Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Chen Tao hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Comrade Gao Gang also said something. He said that at a Ministry of Foreign Affairs meeting, Comrade Zhang Wentian criticized the Premier. He specifically criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its extravagance and the huge amount of money wasted each year. This incident has had a very negative impact. Many cadres believe that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is wrong, and some even have complaints against the Premier. "Old Commander, is this true?"

For cadres like Chen Tao, who joined the revolution during the Anti-Japanese War and came from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region, their views on Comrade Xiuyang and the Premier were different.

Comrade Gao Gang said that although the cultivation of comrades was somewhat difficult to accept, it was not as serious as one might imagine. However, after he mentioned the Premier, many people were shocked. This is because the Premier holds a very good impression within the Party.

In the eyes of many party members, the Prime Minister has always had a good image.

So Gao Gang's mention of the Prime Minister left many people confused. At the same time, many people were dissatisfied with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which the Prime Minister was responsible for. The government, from top to bottom, was now saving money and investing it in industrial development.

In addition, local governments have mobilized a large number of cadres to work in rural areas to develop rural cooperatives, rural education, medical care, and literacy. They live and eat with the farmers in rural areas, leading a very simple life.

The results of it?

Local officials are willing to endure hardships, but you are eating and drinking lavishly over there.

They used the best cars, the best wine, the best cigarettes, the best food, and even gave valuable gifts back to each delegation that returned from their visit. What would these officials say?

This has confused the minds of many party members and cadres.

Many cadres even began to resent the Premier. That was why Chen Tao hesitated.

Wei Hongjun scratched his head. Gao Gang was truly courting death. However, Wei Hongjun was concerned that Gao Gang's tour of important regions in China would significantly increase the number of officials affected in the future.

Some people, even those with little connection to Gao Gang, will be implicated. Let's not even mention Wei Hongjun. Just look at the military, including Wang Jianan, the current commander of the Jinan Military Region. Wang Jianan's appointment as commander of the Jinan Military Region is inseparable from the strong support of Gao Gang and Rao Shushi. Wang Jianan and Rao Shushi are particularly close personal friends. Then there's He Nian, the deputy chief of the General Staff. He's a cadre from northern Shaanxi, and he had close ties with Gao Gang in Northeast China, so he's sure to be directly affected.

Gao Gang also went south to Wuhan this time. Like Lu Dongsheng, the Second Deputy Commander of the Wuhan Military Region. Although Lu Dongsheng had little historical contact with Gao Gang, he was training troops and suppressing bandits in northern Manchuria during the Liberation War, while Gao Gang was Deputy Secretary of the Northeast Bureau and Commander of the Northern Manchuria Military Region. They collaborated on issues such as bandit suppression and land reform. Lai Chuanzhu, the Third Political Commissar currently in charge of the Guangzhou Military Region, also served in the Fourth Field Army.

Even if it has nothing to do with Gao Gang.

As long as someone keeps holding on to this issue, they will be criticized.

There is no need to mention other local cadres.

After all, Gao Gang was one of the main founders of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border area. During the Anti-Japanese War, he had been engaged in revolution in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region and later moved to the Northeast. He still had a large number of cadres who supported his political views.

Speaking of which, although the current Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council, Li Shiping, and Deputy Director of the Fourth Office, Lin Dafeng, were from the Jin-Cha-Ji region, they all had close contacts with Gao Gang when they were in the Northeast and supported his work in the Northeast.

Therefore, if something happens to Gao Gang, many cadres in northern Shaanxi and Northeast China will be affected.

This is really not a good thing.

"Have you discussed these things privately?" "Yes."

Chen Tao nodded.

He said, "Comrade Gao Gang's words became increasingly clear. He said that from now on, Comrade Xiuyang would focus on the 'parliament' in the Central Committee, the Premier would be responsible for foreign affairs and united front work, and Comrade Gao Gang would be in charge of the Politburo. Such a big thing couldn't go undiscussed. During his few days in Guangzhou, Comrade Gao Gang met frequently with cadres in Guangdong."

"Meet you alone too?"

"Yes."

"What did you say?" "He..."

Chen Tao said with a serious expression: "Comrade Gao Gang said that because there are problems with the diplomatic work that the Prime Minister is currently in charge of, we should focus more on diplomatic work in the future.

The Ministerial Conference should be chaired by Marshal Nie or Comrade Chen Yun, with the old leader serving as the first vice chairman. After the Ninth National Congress, Comrade Luo Qirong was promoted to the Central Committee, and Comrade Tao Zhu served as the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee.

Secretary, I will serve as the governor of Guangdong Province."

Wei Hongjun shook his head.

Gao Gang is extremely arrogant now. He dares to talk nonsense about anything.

This was the beginning of a discussion about personnel arrangements after the Ninth National Congress. Gao Gang and Chen Tao said this, clearly intending for Chen Tao to inform Wei Hongjun, and even to communicate this to other cadres from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region.

Now there are cadres from Jin-Cha-Ji everywhere.

If Chen Tao had communicated these words to them, they might have actually supported Gao Gang. Because according to Gao Gang, the State Council would have either Marshal Nie or Wei Hongjun in charge in the future.

Unfortunately, these are all Gao Gang's imaginations.

Over the past two years, the Chairman's deployment of central leadership has shown an increasingly clear tendency toward decentralization. He has assigned each member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee to a specific area, separating the management of the Party, government, and military. Judging from these past two years, Comrade Xiu Yang has been in charge of Party affairs and the National People's Congress, making him second only to the Chairman among the Standing Committee members in power. However, the Chairman also selected Gao Gang as General Secretary, in charge of the Secretariat, thus taking away Comrade Xiu Yang's influence in Party affairs. Then, the Premier is in charge of the State Council, Comrade Chen Yun is primarily responsible for economic affairs, and Marshal Nie is in charge of political and legal affairs.

Although the commander-in-chief gradually faded out of the front-line work of the party, government and military, he has always been responsible for the party's discipline.

This arrangement by the chairman is highly beneficial for stabilizing the central government. This division of labor among the Politburo Standing Committee members reduces the possibility of conflict between the chairman and party leaders. If a prominent figure within the party were to emerge, far more powerful than the other Politburo Standing Committee members, a political disagreement between the chairman and this leader would have significant repercussions.

This division of labor among the Standing Committee members allows each member to be responsible for their own area of ​​responsibility. Even if there are any political differences between these leaders and the Chairman, there are meetings of the Politburo Standing Committee and the Politburo to balance the issues.

Of course, this is just the basics now.

As the Chairman considers personnel arrangements for the Ninth National Congress, he will undoubtedly further clarify the division of labor among the Politburo Standing Committee members. Once the central leadership is finalized, the Chairman still intends to divide the leadership into frontline and second-line positions. He will delegate daily tasks to frontline leaders, while he focuses on overseeing major Party policies and directions, and then conducts more research on socialist development and communist theory.

However, Gao Gang obviously did not understand the Chairman's idea. He thought that the Chairman's division of labor among the Standing Committee members was to weaken the power of Comrade Xiuyang and the Premier. He thought that it was to completely overthrow Comrade Xiuyang and the Premier and exclude them from the Central Committee.

That's why I'm so bold.

Unfortunately, this misrepresents the Chairman's intention. He wants to decentralize power, and any decentralization will inevitably weaken the power of Comrade Xiuyang and the Premier. But the Chairman's decentralization is primarily about achieving balance.

However, Gao Gang misinterpreted the Chairman's intentions, believing he was responsible for resolving the issue between Comrade Xiuyang and the Premier. Therefore, his actions completely undermined the Chairman's personnel arrangements within the Central Committee and violated a cardinal rule within the Party.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said, "Write a written report on your private meeting with Comrade Gao Gang."

Chapter 974 The storm is coming

As time passed, more and more news reached the central government. Gao Gang made bold statements in various places, stating that he would preside over the "Politburo" and win over local Central Committee members and alternate members. Because in China's political landscape, Central Committee members and alternate members are the cadres who truly enter the center of power. Gao Gang even promised to confer official titles on some of the most important Central Committee members and alternate members.

Is there any effect?

There is.

After all, Gao Gang's titles are impressive. Member of the Politburo Standing Committee, General Secretary of the Central Committee, and First Secretary of the Secretariat, overseeing the day-to-day work of the Central Committee. Such a position, when granted to some officials, is highly desirable. Not all Central Committee members and alternate members are like Chen Tao.

Although Chen Tao was neither a member nor an alternate member of the Central Committee, he came from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region and, together with Wei Hongjun, developed the "Shengxian Experience." He also made significant contributions to land reform within the Central South Bureau and the development of rural cooperatives in Guangdong.

He lacked the qualifications to be a member of the Ninth National Congress, but his alternate membership was almost certain. Therefore, he could remain unmoved. After arriving in Beijing, he immediately sought out Wei Hongjun, hoping for his guidance.

But not all cadres are Chen Tao.

He lacked the qualifications to be a member of the Ninth National Congress, but his alternate membership was almost certain. Therefore, he could remain unmoved. After arriving in Beijing, he immediately sought out Wei Hongjun, hoping for his guidance.

But not all cadres are Chen Tao.

They are both highly regarded by central leaders like Wei Hongjun and have sufficient political achievements. Now that Gao Gang is personally trying to win them over, many people want to get in touch with Gao Gang.

On his way south, Gao Gang even visited Marshal Lin, who was recuperating in Hangzhou, and had a secret conversation with him. No one knows what was said, but the meeting was no secret. Gao Gang met with so many people, including local officials and those from various military regions. As a result, what he said could not be concealed.

Because the Chairman has frequently met and talked with leading cadres from various provinces during this period.

After reporting to the Chairman, some people directly inquired about the Central Committee's situation. They reported Gao Gang's remarks directly to the Chairman. Gao Gang's remarks were truly shocking. According to him, both Comrade Xiuyang and the Premier should be sidelined.

From now on, apart from the Chairman, Gao Gang is the most important person in the Party Central Committee.

This is a huge event that will shake the world.

After all, after the Seventh National Congress, the five secretaries had formed, and with the passing of Comrade Ren Peiguo, the Commander-in-Chief rarely appeared in public. The Chairman, Comrade Xiuyang, and the Premier were considered the three most prestigious figures within the Party at the Central Committee. The sudden sidelining of two of them was a source of confusion for many Party members.

Wei Hongjun also handed the Chairman a report written by Chen Tao. Chen Tao had included everything he had said during his meeting with Gao Gang. Wei Hongjun knew that things had reached this point and that such things could no longer be concealed.

After the chairman summarized this information, he felt really heavy-hearted.

Gao Gang's move disrupted the Chairman's original plan. The Chairman had originally placed high hopes on Gao Gang because of his ability in Party, government, and military affairs. However, he had never expected that Gao Gang would so brazenly undermine the Party's organizational discipline.

On October 1955, 10, the Chairman convened an enlarged meeting of the Secretariat.

All Politburo members and alternate members in Beijing attended this enlarged meeting of the Secretariat.

The chairman did not lose his temper.

At this enlarged meeting of the Secretariat, the Chairman mainly talked about the issue of unity within the Party.

"Comrades, we are all Party members. All Party members must abide by Party discipline and must not wantonly violate the Party's organizational discipline. Any behavior that undermines the Party's organizational discipline for personal power or ambition must be resisted by the entire Party."

"In recent years, our Party's main focus has been on national development, leading to the neglect of Party building, which has led to some problems. Many comrades have elevated work-related disagreements into personal conflicts, and then into personnel issues within the Party, government, and military. This is a very serious mistake. We must resolutely oppose this escalation of work-related conflicts into personnel conflicts, which undermines the Party's organizational discipline and affects the Party's normal development."

"Comrades, the victory of our revolution and the founding of New China depend on the unity of the Party, the unity of the working class, the unity of the worker-peasant alliance, the unity of the working people, and the unity of the people of the whole country. We cannot think that this kind of unity is no longer necessary just because New China has been founded."

"In recent years, some Party cadres, even some senior cadres, have failed to fully understand the importance of unity, fostering an extremely dangerous sense of pride and a tendency to exaggerate their personal roles. They consistently embrace individual heroism, mired in the heroic view of history in which heroes create history, while rejecting the people's view of history in which the masses create history. This is a very dangerous tendency, a manifestation of our Party members and cadres becoming detached from the masses."

"We must understand that unity among the leading comrades at or above the level of the Party Central Committee and provincial and municipal committees, as well as among the senior leading comrades of the armed forces, is extremely important. It is the key factor in determining the victory of the revolution. If there is no unity among the senior leading comrades within our Party, it will directly affect our socialist construction."

"To strengthen Party unity, senior cadres, in particular, must be highly aware of the necessity of Party unity and the weight of their own responsibilities. The interests of Party unity are paramount. We must safeguard the unity and prestige of the Party Central Committee, fully promote democracy, and widely engage in criticism and self-criticism. We must affirm that Party unity is based on Marxism-Leninism, and on correct political and organizational principles. Collective leadership is paramount in enhancing inner-Party unity."

"Collective leadership is the highest principle of our Party organizations. It prevents decentralization and the illegal activities of ambitious individuals within the Party. We must severely punish individuals like Zhang Guotao in China and Beria in the Soviet Union. To guard against the emergence of such individuals, collective leadership becomes extremely important. Therefore, we must especially emphasize and earnestly implement the collective leadership system of the Party organization. We must never inappropriately or excessively emphasize the heroic role of any individual. We must never allow Communist Party members to degenerate from the noble qualities of passionate, diligent service to the people into the despicable individualism of the bourgeoisie."

At this enlarged meeting of the Secretariat, the Chairman has been emphasizing the issue of unity within the Party, especially unity among senior Party cadres.

The Chairman’s meaning is very simple.

Criticize the mistakes of certain things, but don't criticize specific people.

So no names were mentioned.

But everyone knows who the Chairman is criticizing.

Everyone in the Central Committee knew that Gao Gang had been making rounds, courting local Central Committee members and alternate members. It could be said that this was the first time since the Chairman officially confirmed the position of top leader of the Party Central Committee that such a pattern of central leadership wantonly forming cliques and promising official positions to lower-level officials had occurred.

Many central government officials were very surprised.

The CCP has its own factions, and this is something everyone acknowledges. But this is the first time it has been so blatantly displayed.

However, the Chairman did not want to condemn Gao Gang with one blow, and he still left Gao Gang with a chance. By not naming him, he was giving Gao Gang time to reflect on his mistakes on his own initiative. He wanted Gao Gang to recognize his mistakes and reflect on them himself.

Gao Gang's history has two crucial flaws. One is his spreading within the Party the idea that "the Party emerged from the barrel of a gun" and "the Party was created by the army," thereby creating the "Military-Party Theory." Gao Gang claims that within the Chinese Party, there is a dualistic approach to Party history: the Chairman represents the Red Zone, while Comrade Xiuyang represents the White Zone. He claims that the Party's core cadres were forged in the military, and that White Zone cadres are now attempting to usurp the Party.

Split the army party and the white area party, and split the Chairman and Comrade Xiuyang.

This is a serious mistake.

Gao Gang coveted the position of Party successor and attacked Comrade Xiuyang. This was, at best, a matter of personal ambition. This kind of thing happened more than once in the history of the Chinese Communist Party. Rao Shushi's expulsion of General Chen from the East China Bureau, the "Three Kings' Rebellion Against He" in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Xiao Zijing's attack on Marshal Nie during the Rectification Movement, other members of the Provisional Central Committee's crackdown on the Chairman and localists, and Zhang Guotao's anti-counterrevolutionary campaign in the Fourth Front Army—all of these events actually occurred.

However, Gao Gang created the Army Party and the White Area Party and spread the division between the Chairman and Comrade Xiuyang. This was intended to split the Party and the Central Committee of the Party. This was a very serious matter.

So when the Prime Minister later exposed Gao Gang’s problems, he summarized Gao Gang’s ten major problems.

This is the number one one among them.

The second problem is that he was never willing to admit his mistakes and finally chose to commit suicide.

Criticism of Gao Gang had essentially ended, and the central government retained his political status. However, compared to Rao Shushi, Gao Gang remained resistant and unwilling to admit his mistakes. Ultimately, he chose suicide. Although his first attempt failed, it became a symbol of his opposition to the central government.

His subsequent suicide made the Chairman even more furious.

Because the Chairman has always believed that a Party member and cadre should bravely face up to any injustice they suffer. Gao Gang's approach is to evade and even defy the central government's decision.

However, during this time and space, Gao Gang did not raise the topics of "military party" and "white area party" on a large scale.

He had thought about this before.