Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

The current steel production is only 800 million tons, but we can even aspire to reach million or million tons.

So he said, "Continue what you were saying."

"Chairman, we must have a clear understanding. We are still a long way from communism. This is not something that can be accomplished in three to five years, or ten to fifteen years. Even twenty to thirty years is impossible. We are currently in the primary stage of socialism, and the primary stage of the primary stage. This is because we are still in the stage of building an industrial base, a foundation that European and American imperialism already had a hundred years ago. If we want to enter communism, at the very least, our productivity should catch up with that of European and American imperialism, or even surpass it. Only then can we say we are entering communism. We can't say we are entering communism when our productivity can't even match that of European and American imperialism."

"Only when our country's productive forces are highly developed and our products are sufficiently abundant can we enter the advanced stage of socialism. Only when we enter the advanced stage of socialism can we gradually enter a communist society. Only then will we consider how to adjust production relations to suit the needs of a communist society. I think it's too much to think about how to enter a communist society at this stage."

The Chairman fell into deep thought again.

Because what Wei Hongjun said was no longer a simple discussion about communist society.

It also involves the judgment of China at present.

Wei Hongjun explicitly stated that China is currently in the primary stage of socialism, even stating that it is at the primary stage of the primary stage of socialism, and that it will take a very long time to enter the advanced stage of socialism. The Chairman is considering this judgment.

If it is said that the Chairman did not have a clear judgment on communism before.

After Wei Hongjun listed those figures, a clearer picture emerged. Just as Wei Hongjun had said, the Americans had already acquired these things in the 1920s; China couldn't possibly enter communism and still not be able to catch up.

But to accomplish those things, look at the astronomical production figures, hundreds of millions, even billions of tons of steel production.

The Chairman understood Wei Hongjun's point. Since China is currently in the primary stage of socialism, there shouldn't be too many communist elements. Policies should be formulated based on the current situation in the primary stage of socialism.

This kind of judgment is very necessary and very important.

If the judgment is correct, it will greatly promote the development of productivity. If the judgment is wrong, it will have a serious impact. For example, during the Agrarian Revolution, the central government misjudged the situation, believing that the revolutionary climax was about to arrive. As a result, the Red Army continued to attack major cities.

The Red Army troops suffered heavy casualties in their attack on large cities.

Including the attacks on Changsha and Ganzhou, each time there were thousands of casualties and the revolution suffered a severe setback.

Of course, before the Red Fourth Army established the Central Soviet Area, some of its leaders judged the revolution to be at a low ebb, with a high tide not imminent. Therefore, they believed establishing a base area at this stage was pointless and untenable. They believed the troops should focus on guerrilla warfare. This trend of thought was later harshly criticized by Chairman Mao.

This is all due to misjudgment of the situation.

If the judgment is wrong, the policies implemented will also have problems.

Wei Hongjun now believes that China will remain in the primary stage of socialism for a long time. Therefore, all of Wei Hongjun's political philosophies will be based on this judgment. Wei Hongjun is no longer a small-time local cadre who pioneered the anti-Japanese base areas in the early years, but a central leader ranked within the top ten of the Party.

Have your own political opinions.

Since Wei Hongjun had said this, the Chairman asked, "Then how do you think we should answer the questions raised by Comrade Shi Xiangsheng in the primary stage of socialism?"

"At this stage, there must be a clear distinction between large collectives and small collectives, and between large public ownership and small public ownership. Large collectives cannot swallow up small collectives, nor can large public ownership swallow up small public ownership. Large collectives cannot regard the assets of small collectives as their own, nor can large public ownership regard the assets of small public ownership as their own. Because we are in the primary stage of socialism, society as a whole is in a period of supply shortage. Therefore, we cannot distribute according to need, and we should certainly not distribute equally. This would seriously undermine the people's enthusiasm for production and hinder the development of productivity. At this stage, we should still adopt distribution according to work to mobilize everyone's enthusiasm for production and develop productivity."

"Since we want to stimulate production enthusiasm, we must not harm the existing cooperative economy and small collective economy. We must clearly distinguish between large collectives and small collectives, safeguarding the interests of large collectives while fully respecting the interests of small collectives. This includes strictly distinguishing between large public ownership and small public ownership. County assets belong to county public ownership, not large public ownership. If we confuse this, we will harm the collective interests of those cooperatives, as well as the interests of municipal, county, and township enterprises. This will dampen their enthusiasm for production and further affect the development of productivity."

The chairman nodded repeatedly.

The Chairman strongly agreed with this statement.

He said: "Owned by the whole people and collectively owned enterprises cannot be confused. Comrade Shi Xiangsheng raised this question, indicating that many people in our party confuse the nature of collectively owned enterprises with state-owned enterprises like Anshan Iron and Steel. This is wrong."

"Yes. The state can allocate resources from Anshan Iron and Steel, because it is a state-owned enterprise. However, it should not arbitrarily allocate resources from collectively owned enterprises, because they are collective assets. Collective assets should be exchanged and cannot be allocated by administrative order. In the primary stage of socialism, as long as enterprises of various ownerships exist and their products are exchanged, then a commodity economy will exist. When a commodity economy exists, the law of value will come into play, and money will be indispensable."

Wei Hongjun answered all of Shi Xiangsheng's questions.

After returning to Beijing, the Chairman discussed this issue with a number of central government officials. Each of them analyzed the issues based on the current economic situation. The Chairman expressed both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. However, his conversation with Wei Hongjun left a deep impression on him.

Because Wei Hongjun did not simply discuss the issue at hand, but directly analyzed the issue from the current stage of New China.

The main points are clear at a glance.

Regardless of whether Wei Hongjun's judgment was correct or not, he now possessed the vision and perspective of a central leader. So the Chairman thought for a moment and said, "Comrade Hongjun, please write an article on the primary stage of socialism. Also, describe your vision of the advanced stage of socialism for me to see."

The Chairman was very interested in Wei Hongjun’s judgment on the primary stage of socialism.

The Chairman had previously entertained this idea, but lacked a fully developed conception. Even after socialist transformation, he stated that my country's socialist system had only just been established, not yet fully built. It would take time to build the foundations of modern industry and agriculture, and only after productivity had fully developed would our socialist economic and political systems be considered to have secured a sufficient material foundation, and socialist society could be considered fundamentally established.

But these were only the Chairman's general ideas, not yet fully formulated into a theory. However, Wei Hongjun's assessment of the primary stage of socialism gave the Chairman some clearer ideas. In particular, Wei Hongjun's discussion of the development of European and American imperialism led the Chairman to consider the two stages of socialism.

The underdeveloped socialist stage and the developed socialist stage.

Therefore, the Chairman was more interested in Wei Hongjun's ideas on the primary stage of socialism and asked Wei Hongjun to write down this judgment from all aspects.

"Yes."

Apart from other things, Comrade Deng Xixian’s judgment on the primary stage of socialism is still very outstanding.

He accurately defined the situation in China at that time.

The judgment that socialism was in the primary stage completely eliminated many of the Party's ideas that wanted to enter a communist society in one step. This was undoubtedly a major contribution by Comrade Deng Xixian to the theory of socialist development and to China's socialist construction.

Wei Hongjun hopes that the Chairman and the Party will accept this judgment, saying it will be very helpful in clearing away various ideological tendencies within the Party.

Chapter 969: Theory of Socialist Stages

Chairman Mao wrote an article in 1939, "The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party." It contains a line: "A clear understanding of China's national conditions is the fundamental basis for a clear understanding of all revolutionary issues."

Although it is just a simple sentence, it reveals the most basic question of how Chinese comrades should carry out the Chinese revolution.

This work was both a response to the increasingly anti-communist Kuomintang reactionaries and a preparatory article for the subsequent "rectification movement" by Chairman Mao. It aimed to help Party comrades connect Marxism with China's realities, explaining that China's problems could only be solved by Chinese comrades, based on China's realities.

The article analyzes the object, task, motive force, nature, and future of the Chinese Revolution, all based on an analysis of the nature of Chinese society. Although the article was intended to analyze the situation in China at the time and to point out the direction for the Chinese Revolution,

But this article is not outdated even now, because the same problem exists now.

As cooperation with the Soviet Union grew, its influence on China's economic development also grew. Many Party cadres once again began to view the Soviet Union as a guiding light for building socialism. The Chairman's article became even more valuable during this period.

The most important thing in understanding national conditions is to understand the nature and development stage of real society and to recognize the main contradictions in real society and their changes. This theory can be directly applied to the analysis of New China at this stage.

Chairman Mao has also been studying this issue, and he recently stated that my country's socialist society is currently at a stage where it has been entered but not yet completed. He later concluded that my country's socialist system is only "just established" and has not yet been "completed."

In fact, in this regard, the Chairman already had the theoretical outline of the primary stage of socialism.

It's just not clear yet.

One reason for this is that the Chairman, being in the thick of things, needed more time to understand and judge. It wasn't until the conclusion of the Great Leap Forward that he proposed that socialism should have two stages: underdeveloped socialism and developed socialism. However, after the 1960s, conflicts between the Chairman and some central leaders over the construction of socialism, Party building, and cadre development grew increasingly intense. Consequently, the Chairman began exploring other avenues, halting further exploration in this area. This was a great regret.

Another reason is that New China was deeply influenced by the Soviet Union, especially in the construction of socialism. Chairman Mao was also deeply influenced by the Soviet Union. This was unavoidable. The Soviet Union was the leader of socialism and took the lead in socialist construction.

Comrade Stalin's influence on the world communist movement and socialist construction was immense, and no socialist country could escape his influence. Shortly after the Soviet Union established socialism in 1936, he proposed the idea of ​​a transition to communism. However, the outbreak of World War II prevented Stalin from implementing this vision. After the war, and following a period of economic reconstruction, Stalin revisited his 1936 theory. In 1952, Stalin declared that the Party's primary task was to transition from socialism to communism.

This urgent desire to transition from socialism to communism not only brought great problems to the construction of the Soviet Union, but also had a very negative impact on other socialist countries.

Khrushchev later inherited this trait from Stalin. While Stalin advocated for a transition to communism, he also laid out certain prerequisites. Only after these prerequisites were met could the transition to communism be achieved. But Khrushchev was different.

Historically, at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev proposed that the Soviet Union had entered a new and crucial period of development—a period of comprehensive construction of a communist society. He even proposed the slogan "Running into Communism."

As a result, it led all other socialist countries astray.

After the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the socialist camp began to face a series of problems, including the Great Leap Forward in China. Besides Khrushchev's "secret report" at the 20th Congress, which shocked the world, his slogan "Run into Communism" was also prominent.

As a result, political and economic problems arose in the socialist countries.

This is the Soviet Union's influence within the socialist camp. After returning from his 1957 visit to the Soviet Union, Chairman Mao was deeply influenced by the then-current Communist Party of the Soviet Union and felt that time was of the essence. Because the Soviet Union was about to enter communism, all socialist countries, without any prior preparation, began to formulate timetables for their entry into communism.

This is all because each country made mistakes in judging its own situation.

Therefore, in his report, Wei Hongjun first recounted Chairman Mao's words from "The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party." He then explicitly stated that China is currently in the primary stage of socialism, even in the fundamental stages of the primary stage. Wei Hongjun began his analysis by analyzing China's current industrial and agricultural data. When the per capita figures were compared with those of European and American imperialism, the picture was truly dismal.

Of course, it is not just simple industrial and agricultural data.

The per capita data for light industrial products in daily life is even pitifully low, and some are even close to zero.

Wei Hongjun used actual data to tell everyone that China today is based on this foundation.

Wei Hongjun also outlined some of the characteristics of the primary stage of socialism. These included low income levels, living standards still at the subsistence level, a large agricultural population, a large share of natural and semi-natural economies, a high proportion of the population being illiterate and semi-literate, and significant inequality between regions in economic, cultural, and medical aspects.

Wei Hongjun did not write these out of thin air.

Wei Hongjun’s current location, these national data can be accessed at any time.

So Wei Hongjun wrote down all these data. Data is always the most intuitive representation. Although New China has developed rapidly in recent years, and data has also increased rapidly, the foundation is there. No matter how fast the development is, the total number will still be very low, and the per capita number will be even lower.

With these data, Wei Hongjun directly stated that China is currently a poor socialist country.

This is an objective fact.

Wei Hongjun also stated that the primary stage of socialism is not a mandatory stage for all socialist countries. Rather, it is a historical process that only poor and backward countries like China undergo when they enter socialism. If some developed countries enter socialism, they can skip the primary stage. For example, developed capitalist countries like the United Kingdom and the United States do not have to go through the primary stage of socialism if they enter socialism. This is determined by the level of productivity.

Of course, Wei Hongjun also analyzed the Soviet Union beside the report, but this is not the main text.

Just some analysis written on the side.

Wei Hongjun believes that although the current Soviet Union has escaped the basic stage of the primary stage of socialism, it has not completely escaped the primary stage of socialism. Wei Hongjun uses publicly available industrial and agricultural data from the Soviet Union for his analysis.

Then he brought out Khrushchev's recent public speech.

At the 20th Congress of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev proposed "rushing into communism," but this was already evident in several of his public statements before the congress. Especially after his harsh rebuke of Molotov at the Council of Ministers, Khrushchev had firmly established his position as the top leader of the Soviet Party, government, and military.

In May 1955, Khrushchev had just visited Yugoslavia and, along with Tito, issued the "Belgrade Declaration." Molotov, however, attacked Khrushchev at a Council of Ministers meeting, accusing him of condoning socialist traitors like the Yugoslavs. Molotov also felt that Khrushchev's visit to Yugoslavia was a humiliating apology and flattery to Tito, a gesture Tito simply ignored.

While the "Belgrade Declaration" was issued, it was just a declaration and did not benefit the Soviet Union in any way. It was merely a statement between the Soviet and Yugoslav governments; the two parties had no consensus at all. Furthermore, Tito then turned around and stated that improving relations between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union would not affect Yugoslavia's relations with Europe and the United States.

Unexpectedly, the other cadres at the Council of Ministers attacked Molotov unanimously, turning it into a criticism meeting of Molotov, allowing Khrushchev to completely eliminate the last person who posed a threat to him after Stalin's death.

After dealing with Molotov, Khrushchev became increasingly open about his views. During this period, Khrushchev expressed his desire to catch up with the United States in areas like meat protein within a few years. Wei Hongjun argued for this statement, analyzing publicly available Soviet and American data. He then criticized Khrushchev's ideas as completely unrealistic and "leftist" and reckless.

The Soviet Union could not achieve this goal on its own.

However, Khrushchev's intention to gradually shift the Soviet Union's focus from a heavy industrial nation to one that prioritized livelihoods was a positive development for China. The Soviet Union's current industrial policies were deeply entrenched, and Khrushchev couldn't change them at will. Therefore, if Khrushchev wanted to improve Soviet livelihoods, he would have to rely more heavily on China for supplies. The Soviet Union's own agricultural and light industrial capabilities simply couldn't achieve the results Khrushchev desired.

So China should seize this opportunity.

Exchange more light industrial products for Soviet machinery and equipment.

The analysis of the Soviet Union constitutes a supplementary text. In the main text, Wei Hongjun continues his analysis of what needs to be done in the primary stage of socialism. Wei Hongjun begins by stating that since we are in the primary stage of socialism, this indicates that my country is a socialist country and must uphold the socialist system. This is a fundamental line that cannot be violated.

Then there is the question of how long the primary stage of socialism will take.

Wei Hongjun stated that the primary stage of socialism is a long process. my country's socialist society is and will remain in the primary stage for a long time. We must face up to this primary stage and cannot go beyond it.

Then the question is how to get through this primary stage of socialism, or to what extent can we be said to have broken through the primary stage of socialism.

Wei Hongjun put forward some specific ideas.

Wei Hongjun proposed how to move from the basic stage of the primary stage of socialism to the primary stage of socialism.

The problems of food, clothing, housing and transportation of our people have been completely solved. Our country has transformed from an agricultural country into an industrial country, and from a country with a majority of illiterate and semi-literate people to a country with relatively developed science, technology, education and culture.

Later, Wei Hongjun wrote some data.

These figures included per capita grain production, per capita cloth production, per capita bicycles, per capita cars, per capita public transportation, and the proportion of higher education. Following these figures, Wei Hongjun wrote that achieving these goals would establish a solid industrial and agricultural foundation, a solid cultural foundation, and a solid foundation for public services. New China could then move from the foundation-laying stage to the development stage. In other words, it would move from the foundational stage of the primary stage of socialism to the primary stage of true socialist development.

Once we truly enter the primary stage of socialism, we will transition from solving the basic necessities of life to improving them. If the foundational stage of the primary stage of socialism is merely the initial solution to the problems of life, then the subsequent stage is the stage of improving living standards.

Then there is the issue of 100 million cars that Wei Hongjun talked to the Chairman about.