Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

They weren't born into a literary background. Propaganda officials who came from a literary background had solid theoretical knowledge, a high level of education, and excellent writing style, but they lacked practical work experience. However, after Gao Gang and Xi Zhongxun reorganized the Propaganda Department, they transferred in a number of officials with experience working in local areas.

Their writing skills are certainly not as good as those of the cadres who came from a literary background, but they know how to interact with the common people better.

So they all understood what Deng Zhihui said.

Xi Zhongxun spoke first: "Comrade Wei Hongjun, Comrade Deng Zhihui, and all the comrades in the Rural Work Department, I must first make a self-criticism for you. This is the responsibility of our Propaganda Department, and it has caused trouble for your work."

When Xi Zhongxun was in charge of land reform in the northwest, he also encountered various problems.

This also includes issues of publicity.

So I understand why Wei Hongjun and his team held this meeting with the Propaganda Department. This kind of false reporting of grain production, with the Propaganda Department's involvement, would greatly affect the Rural Work Department's rural work.

"The development of things is inevitably accompanied by various problems. Problems are not to be feared, as long as they are solved."

Wei Hongjun spoke with a smile.

Wei Hongjun is not trying to hold anyone accountable.

Even the Chairman needs the cooperation of other comrades to advance his work. Furthermore, Wei Hongjun is only a member of the Politburo. Many matters require the cooperation of other ministries and commissions. These departments are not under Wei Hongjun's jurisdiction, so to get their cooperation, unity is essential.

"We will definitely focus on rectifying this issue after we return." Although Xi Zhongxun said it lightly, his heart was very heavy.

These local party newspapers are directly under the leadership of the local provincial party committees. In some provinces, even important articles in these party newspapers are reviewed by the provincial party committee leaders. Although Xi Zhongxun is the Minister of Propaganda, resolving these issues will require a tough battle with these local leaders.

"Comrade Xi Zhongxun, the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture are asking if national and provincial newspapers can first consult the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture before reporting on grain production. This is because the authoritative data on grain production is held by the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture."

Li Shaocheng spoke.

Li Shaocheng is the central leader in charge of overall agricultural production.

He was most sensitive to national grain production. These local party newspapers' misreporting of grain production and per-acre yields seriously affected agricultural production plans.

"But doesn't this deprive the newspaper of its right to report?" Zhang Xiushan frowned.

This means that party newspapers at all levels must obtain review from the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture before reporting on grain production issues.

How is this possible?

Propaganda work is propaganda work, and rural work is rural work. How can the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture be allowed to dictate matters in the field of propaganda? Even though Wei Hongjun is a member of the Politburo and a member of the Secretariat, he is not in charge of propaganda and has no right to meddle in the affairs of the Propaganda Department.

Li Shaocheng immediately explained, "We don't want to interfere with the propaganda department's affairs. We simply want to provide them with the most accurate grain production data. We don't want them to receive false data. We hope they will be cautious about grain production, as grain production is a very sensitive statistic. Any misreporting would not only disrupt our rural work but also negatively impact the propaganda department."

Now the Rural Work Department and the Propaganda Department need to cooperate to cool down the situation, so Wei Hongjun attaches great importance to this meeting.

Li Shaocheng couldn't let the Propaganda Department think the Rural Work Department was interfering in their work. If the relationship between the two departments faltered, subsequent coordination would be problematic. Wei Hongjun echoed this, saying, "Our Rural Work Department opens its data to the Propaganda Department. As long as the Propaganda Department wants to report on agricultural issues, especially grain production, we will provide all the data they need. So, Comrade Shaocheng's point is that newspapers at all levels can contact us anytime when reporting on rural issues and grain production."

Xi Zhongxun nodded as he listened to Wei Hongjun and Li Shaocheng's explanations. Zhang Xiushan did not ask any further questions.

Xi Zhongxun had heard the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture's emphasis on grain production. He also understood that false reporting of grain production, like false reporting of military achievements on the battlefield, could potentially affect the overall war situation.

So on this issue, Xi Zhongxun didn't get all mushy. He said, "Regarding the issue of grain production, our propaganda department will certainly be cautious. We will also humbly accept the opinions of the comrades from the Rural Work Department and conduct focused discussions after we return."

Zhang Xiushan and Duan Chengwei next to him also agreed with Xi Zhongxun.

Wei Hongjun and Deng Zhihui were both very happy about the statements made by Xi Zhongxun and other Propaganda Department leaders.

The propaganda department's ability to influence public opinion is too strong. We must pay attention to it.

Especially at this time, public opinion only has one channel: newspapers. Radio and television are not yet widespread, so newspapers have a huge influence. Grassroots cadres rely on these party newspapers for their understanding of policy, in addition to official documents.

Therefore, party newspapers at all levels of government have a huge influence.

For example, during the Great Leap Forward, Henan's exaggeration trend was largely due to the Henan Daily. The Henan Daily reported on grain production almost every few days, and each time it reported an increase in per-mu yields, many counties in Henan that had not previously participated in the exaggeration trend followed the Henan Daily's reports and joined in. The nationwide exaggeration trend is inseparable from the People's Daily. What was initially a localized issue, once the newspaper intervened, had a direct national impact, spreading from two provinces to most of the country.

Such is the influence of newspapers in this era.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun needs the propaganda department to cool down as well.

Fortunately, Gao Gang had previously overseen a major overhaul of the Propaganda Department. In this regard, Gao Gang's work ability was truly formidable. After taking charge of the Secretariat, he accurately identified the department's problems: too many theoretical scribes and too few cadres who had risen through the ranks. While Gao Gang had some selfish motives in overhauling the Propaganda Department, it was driven by practical considerations.

Xi Zhongxun, Zhang Xiushan, Duan Chengwei and others had all worked in the base areas, so they understood the Rural Work Department's thinking.

“Thank you to the comrades in the propaganda department for your willingness to support our work on rural issues.”

Wei Hongjun was very polite.

There will be many opportunities for cooperation with the Propaganda Department in the future. Xi Zhongxun said: "This is as it should be."

Deng Zhihui then discussed other aspects of rural work. He urged the propaganda department to refrain from excessively hyping up the role of certain farming methods in increasing grain yields and to refrain from overly spreading these myths to local governments. This would easily lead to local governments following suit. Increases in grain yields are a comprehensive process, not the result of any single factor.

The two sides talked for over two hours and reached a certain consensus, deciding to increase communication.

Zhang Linchi is fully responsible for communicating with the propaganda department and providing the propaganda department with more direct data on rural issues, especially those related to grain production.

Chapter 967 Chairman on "Official Air"

After arranging these matters, Wei Hongjun's work shifted to the issue of rural industrial and commercial development.

We will first select several provinces and counties within each province for pilot programs. These selected counties will hold meetings with rural cooperatives to inform them of the government's policy. One option is for credit cooperatives to streamline loan procedures and specifically support the development of rural industry and commerce. Another option is for the government to assist in purchasing machinery and equipment. Just like the opening of the free market for agricultural and sideline products, the principle of freedom will prevail.

But there are also limitations.

Each township can only have one company operating the same agricultural and sideline product processing industry. For example, each township can only have one oil press. This is to avoid disorderly competition and waste of resources. Furthermore, each rural cooperative can choose an industry that suits its specific circumstances.

After each rural cooperative has determined the industries it wants to develop, they will gather their information and submit it to the county, which will then contact the various machinery factories to purchase machinery and equipment.

There are so many things to do and so many departments need to coordinate.

This was especially true for the machinery factories. These were state-owned factories that originally had their own missions. However, the development of rural industry and commerce led to a surge in demand for various machinery and equipment, which directly disrupted the production plans of these factories.

It also affects plans in other industries.

Economic activity is inherently interconnected. Hundreds of millions of yuan in rural funds slowly flowed into these machinery factories, and through them into related industries. Thus, the original plans for a series of industries had to be revised.

So there are a lot of trivial things.

Why is it said that the strict planned economic system is somewhat rigid?

This is mainly because many factories are slow to respond to market changes. Under a strictly planned economy, factories can't just change if they want to. Changes in one factory can impact all other industries throughout the factory.

It will directly affect the original economic plan.

China didn't yet have a strictly planned economy, but it was also deeply influenced by the Soviet economic system. Therefore, the development of rural industry and commerce, while merely a matter of a few hundred million yuan in capital, required changes from central government ministries down to the machinery factories below them.

This is also one of the disadvantages of the planned economy.

The Planning Commission had to revise some of its existing economic plans, and the Ministry of Heavy Industry had to adjust its allocation plans for materials like steel. As central ministries and commissions adjusted, factories below them also had to adjust their production plans and redirect their products.

Overall it went pretty smoothly.

But the reason it went smoothly was because it was pushed by Wei Hongjun and the Rural Work Department. Wei Hongjun pushed this directly from the central level, so it can be said to be smooth. What if it was spontaneous?

When rural areas have accumulated wealth and want to develop rural industry and commerce and build factories suitable for rural development, it will be extremely difficult to ask the planning department to change the plan or the factories to change their production tasks.

Wei Hongjun recorded all these issues.

The country is currently in the industrialization phase, so regulations are quite strict. These will need to be reformed in the future.

Wei Hongjun is really busy dealing with these things.

After a busy month, in August, Wei Hongjun suddenly received a letter from the Chairman, who was on an inspection tour. The Chairman had left Beijing in mid-July for a southern inspection tour, requesting a month's leave from the Central Committee. The Chairman traveled abroad almost every two years to observe local developments and hear the opinions of local officials.

This has become a routine.

The Chairman had been away for almost a month when, unexpectedly, a letter arrived for Wei Hongjun. Unlike ordinary instructions, this was a very long letter. In other words, it wasn't a letter to Wei Hongjun, but an article by the Chairman.

The Chairman has given a lot of thought to rural issues during this period.

But simply reading Wei Hongjun and his colleagues' reports wasn't enough. So, during his trip south, he inspected the development of numerous rural cooperatives and spoke with numerous local and rural officials, ultimately summarizing some of the issues. The Chairman analyzed the emerging "adventurism" tendencies and the signs of "communism" and "exaggeration" that were emerging within them.

The Chairman believes that the main reason for these problems is "official arrogance."

The letter to Wei Hongjun began: "Comrade Hongjun: This trip south, visiting various places and chatting with everyone, has been quite fruitful. The Rural Work Department has done a solid and effective job. The rural economy has developed rapidly, and farmers' living standards have improved significantly. However, there are also many problems. Many grassroots governments do show signs of 'communist tendencies' and 'exaggeration'. It is great that the Rural Work Department has been able to identify these problems amidst the thriving rural development."

The Chairman's letter begins by praising the work of the Rural Work Department. This is not out of politeness.

Rather, the Chairman truly affirmed the work of the Rural Work Department. In recent years, rural policies have been stable, agriculture has developed rapidly, and rural areas have essentially solved the problem of basic food and clothing. The liberalization of the agricultural and sideline product market has significantly increased farmers' incomes, revitalizing the rural economy. The Chairman was delighted by what he saw and heard along the way.

Of course, if it was just a good development, the Chairman would not praise Wei Hongjun and the Rural Work Department in this way.

What the Chairman appreciates even more is that the current "communist" and "exaggerationist" trends are only small signs. While they have occurred in some places, they have not spread widely. Yet, Wei Hongjun and the Rural Work Department have already identified these small signs and have developed countermeasures. This demonstrates that Wei Hongjun and the Rural Work Department have carried out very solid work and are deeply concerned about rural development.

This is what the Chairman appreciates most about Wei Hongjun’s work.

The Chairman then began to speak about the issue of a free market for agricultural and sideline products.

The President generally has a positive attitude toward the free market for agricultural and sideline products. He believes that the opening of a free market for agricultural and sideline products has increased the income of rural cooperatives and consolidated the development of the rural cooperative economy. It has also addressed the problems of inefficient purchase and sale of agricultural and sideline products, transportation, and storage, as well as the high prices and shortages of agricultural and sideline products in cities.

At the same time, the active rural economy in towns and villages has also driven the development of some individual economies.

When the central government initially implemented socialist transformation, it didn't completely ban individual businesses. However, this type of individual business was limited to skilled manual laborers, and no employment relationships were permitted. The most common types of businesses were barbers, mending clothes, and small restaurants. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, these individual businesses were undermined by the state-owned, cooperative, and collective economies.

However, after the free market for agricultural and sideline products led to the revitalization of the rural economy, these small businesses quickly benefited and began to flourish. The Chairman did not see any problem with the development of these small businesses.

As long as the individual economy does not develop into speculation and the employment capital economy, the Chairman has no objection.

Of course, the development of the free market for agricultural and sideline products has also presented some problems. Some speculation has begun to emerge. However, because the current free market for agricultural and sideline products involves extensive participation from rural cooperatives, the serious, large-scale speculation that occurred in the past has not occurred.

The Chairman wrote down the problems he observed.

I hope the Ministry of Rural Affairs will take these into consideration when formulating the next plan for the free market for agricultural and sideline products.

After discussing the issue of private markets for agricultural and sideline products, the chairman began to get to the point.

"In addition to the problems of 'communist style' and 'exaggeration style' that you have reported, I have also discovered some new problems during this inspection. Our grassroots cadres have a poor understanding of commodities and the law of value, and they reject them. Many grassroots cadres always believe that commodities and the law of value are capitalist things, and that socialism and communism should not have commodities and the law of value. And this problem is not limited to grassroots cadres; this kind of thinking is widespread within the Party. Some even asked me whether commodity production and currency should be gradually eliminated. These problems must be resolved, and the theoretical issues involved must be resolved within the entire Party. Comrade Hongjun, you should also give more consideration to this aspect."

The Chairman attaches great importance to theoretical issues.

Many people, faced with problems in real life, simply solve whatever they encounter. However, the Chairman is not satisfied with simply solving a single problem. Instead, he seeks to generalize practical problems into theory and identify the theoretical root causes of the problems.

Only after these theoretical problems are solved can theory guide practice.

Many people within the Party regard commodity production and the law of value as belonging to capitalist society. They believe that in socialist society, there are only products, not commodities, and they refuse to acknowledge that commodity production and the law of value also exist within socialism.

Obviously the Chairman does not support this view.

"These days, I've been pondering the root causes of problems like 'exaggeration' and 'communism'. I believe the main cause of these problems is bureaucracy, the strong 'official aura' among our cadres. To resolve these problems, we must first eliminate the 'official aura' among our cadres and vigorously oppose bureaucracy. Our cadres must seek truth from facts and become one with the people."

"Taking the mass line has always been the core line of our Party and a correct line proven by history. We must make people feel that their relationships with one another are truly equal, that they are truly devoted to their hearts. People may have different jobs and positions, but they are all ordinary workers, merely with different divisions of revolutionary labor. No matter how high your official rank, whether it's chairman, prime minister, minister, or provincial governor, it's nothing special. But no matter what level of cadre you are, you can only be a worker, and you must present yourself to the people as one. This will make it easier for you to hold your position and earn you greater support from the people."

"To eliminate bureaucracy and official arrogance, we must eliminate bourgeois practices. We must make everyone feel that New China is truly liberated and that truly equal relationships have been established. Interpersonal relationships are the foundation of all work. Only when interpersonal relationships are properly handled can work proceed smoothly. This trip south has exposed me to many very negative situations. I've discovered that interpersonal relationships in many areas are already problematic. In factories, the relationship between the factory director, party committee secretary, and union chairman and the workers is not equal. The masses call them 'officials,' referring to the Party, government, trade union, and league as the 'four major leaders,' and no longer members of the working class. This has strained the relationship between our factory leaders and workers, and people are no longer speaking their minds, which ultimately leads to the emergence of bourgeois legal rights."

"This problem exists not only in factories but also between Party, government, and military cadres and the masses, and between cooperative leaders and members. When officials from Beijing visit local areas, they act like they're being shaken by the sight of an inspector leaving the court. Local officials are terrified when they receive officials from Beijing, offering all the best they can. If this situation doesn't change, then New China will be as corrupt as the Kuomintang regime, and like the Kuomintang, it will be abandoned by the people. Many of our officials now prefer rank and treatment over equality. These problems arise because our officials are becoming detached from the masses, fostering a bureaucratic bent."

The Chairman talked a lot about bureaucracy.

Wei Hongjun could see from these words that the Chairman was angry about these bureaucratic practices.