Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Zhang Wentian is currently only the Executive Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Central Committee, but he was once a top official in the Communist Party of China. Furthermore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Party Leadership Group held a meeting to deal with Zhang Wentian, which was actually related to his criticism of the Premier.

Therefore, it is impossible for the Prime Minister to express his opinion casually.

The Prime Minister immediately handed the meeting report to the Chairman.

After receiving the report, the Chairman did not immediately approve it. He was also troubled and undecided about how to deal with the Gao Gang issue. Although Gao Gang had violated a taboo, the Chairman did not want to punish Gao Gang with one blow.

The Chairman was worried that if he began to deal with Zhang Wentian, people below him would start criticizing Gao Gang, implicating a large number of people. Eventually, a wave of unrest would form within the Party, demanding that the Central Committee deal with Gao Gang. At that point, the Chairman would have no choice but to deal with Gao Gang.

But when this report reached the Chairman, he already understood the attitude of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Chairman deliberated overnight and finally wrote on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Party Committee's report that Comrade Zhang Wentian should be suspended. The Chairman's concerns were not wrong, but once Zhang Wentian was suspended, the situation became somewhat out of control.

The first person to be affected was Zhang Wentian’s wife Liu Ying.

Liu Ying is currently an Assistant Minister, the same rank as a Vice Minister. However, she is no longer able to continue her work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although Liu Ying and the Premier and his wife have a good personal relationship, their relationship has become strained since Zhang Wentian publicly criticized the Premier at a Ministry of Foreign Affairs meeting.

It is still unknown how serious Zhang Wentian’s current problem is.

So Liu Ying was implicated.

At the same time, cadres who worked with Gao Gang in Northeast China and had a good relationship with him began to see their work affected to varying degrees. Although Wei Hongjun was away, he maintained contact with Beijing.

Wei Hongjun knew that he couldn't waste too much time outside.

Stabilizing the emotions of local officials is important, as is stabilizing the emotions of officials at the top of central government ministries and commissions. Wei Hongjun currently oversees a wide range of departments, many of whom hail from Northeast China and have previously worked with Gao Gang. Therefore, Wei Hongjun must also maintain their composure to prevent disruptions to their work.

More than 20 days after leaving Beijing, Wei Hongjun returned to Beijing.

977 Personal Problem or Physical Problem

When Wei Hongjun returned to Beijing, all the ministries and commissions in Beijing were in chaos.

The cadres involved in the Gao Gang issue, or those who had worked with Gao Gang in the past, were now worried. Especially those in northern Shaanxi and the Northeast who had a good relationship with Gao Gang, they had all felt the changes in the surrounding situation.

The most obvious change is that many people began to stay away from them.

Because no one knew where the Gao Gang incident would lead, and no one wanted to get involved at this point, many officials chose to protect themselves. The first step was to distance themselves from officials who might be involved with Gao Gang. Consequently, officials with even a passing connection to Gao Gang have seen their work impacted. The impact of a cadre of Gao Gang's rank being in trouble is truly enormous.

When Wei Hongjun returned to Beijing, Li Shiping, Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council, came to meet him. Currently, there are six Deputy Secretaries-General of the State Council. Besides handling the day-to-day work of the General Office of the State Council, Li Shiping primarily assists Wei Hongjun with his State Council duties. On the way, Li Shiping briefed Wei Hongjun on the developments of various ministries and commissions in Beijing over the past twenty days.

Li Shiping himself frowned all the way because he was now affected by Gao Gang's problem.

When Gao Gang was in the Northeast, Li Shiping served as mayor and secretary of the Shenyang Municipal Party Committee, secretary-general of the Northeast Bureau, secretary-general of the Northeast People's Government, and secretary-general of the Northeast Administrative Committee, and cooperated with Gao Gang a lot.

After all, as the Secretary General of the Northeast Bureau and the Northeast People's Government, he had a lot of contact with Gao Gang. Most of Gao Gang's orders within the Northeast Bureau and the Northeast People's Government were compiled by Li Shiping and then conveyed to various agencies.

The Central Committee sent people to various regions to convey the spirit of the enlarged meeting of the Secretariat, and of course they would also send people to the Northeast, where Gao Gang had the greatest influence. Because of the importance of the Northeast, the Premier personally went to the Northeast to convey the spirit of the enlarged meeting of the Secretariat.

At a meeting to promote inner-Party unity, Zhou Huan, Deputy Political Commissar of the Shenyang Military Region, similar to his historical selection of Gao Gang's "Five Tiger Generals," also singled out several officials from Northeast China who had close ties with Gao Gang. These included Zhang Xiushan, First Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department; He Nianfeng, Deputy Chief of the General Staff; and Zhao Dezun, current Deputy Minister of Rural Affairs. Among them was Li Shiping.

Zhou Huan's naming of him had a very negative impact on Li Shiping. Zhou Huan had gone to Northeast China after the end of the Anti-Japanese War and had been involved in the revolution there. He was a cadre who was very familiar with the situation in Northeast China. In addition, Zhou Huan had a long career and had been involved in political work, so he had considerable influence within the Party and the military.

The cadres he named were immediately at the center of the storm because they could easily be mistaken for cadres of the Gao Gang Group.

Li Shiping has already felt this problem in the State Council.

Li Shiping is the highest-ranking official among the six deputy secretaries-general of the State Council. Normally, Li Shiping handles the work of the State Council General Office. However, these past few days, the General Office's work has been fraught with difficulty.

Many officials in the State Council have begun to distance themselves from Li Shiping. However, Li Shiping's job requires him to interact with various State Council leaders and ministries. This has led to a rather awkward situation for Li Shiping in the State Council.

Wei Hongjun listened to Li Shiping's words, feeling rather irritated. He was angry at Zhou Huan's outspokenness, but also at the current situation. In this particular period, it was easy for politics to err on the side of punishing the wrongdoer rather than letting him go.

Zhou Huan's naming of these officials, claiming they had close ties with Gao Gang, effectively implicates them as members of Gao Gang's group. This has a profoundly negative impact on these officials. Even if they aren't punished this time, it will become a historical stain that could resurface at any moment. This is truly a case of adding insult to injury and fabricating accusations.

Wei Hongjun and Zhou Huan are not familiar with each other.

But we also know that Zhou Huan is a senior political cadre in our party and army. His remarks this time are definitely problematic.

The Premier went to Northeast China to convey the central government's message of inner-Party unity, and everyone should just listen. After all, Gao Gang's case hasn't been finalized yet, and the central government hasn't said it will deal with him. Pointing out cadres who have close ties with Gao Gang in a meeting like this is completely unnecessary. This doesn't indirectly suggest that Gao Gang is cliquey or ambitious.

What kind of relationship could Gao Gang and Li Shiping have? They had no historical connection at all. Before moving to Northeast China, Li Shiping had been in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region, serving as an underground Party member during the Agrarian Revolution. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he, along with Wei Hongjun and Wang Qiuyun, established the Chahar-South base area. At that time, Gao Gang was in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and the two men were completely strangers. They only moved to Northeast China after the war ended, and they only worked together for about a year. Because Li Shiping had previously worked primarily in South Manchuria, the two men didn't have any substantial contact until Gao Gang became Secretary of the Northeast Bureau. Gao Gang's tenure as Secretary of the Northeast Bureau was brief, before he was transferred to the central government.

This way they can still be connected.

Even if they had a rapport and good coordination during their year or so of collaboration, that wouldn't be groundless or clique-based. Does that mean two people, simply because they work well together, should be considered members of the same faction? To be honest, Chen Yun and Li Fuchun worked with Gao Gang for even longer.

Why did Zhou Huan bring this up to Li Shiping?

So after Wei Hongjun returned to Beijing, he immediately contacted the Chairman and asked to meet him.

The Chairman made time for it that evening.

Before Wei Hongjun, Chen Yun was the first to return to Beijing. Although Rao Shushi was implicated in the Gao Gang incident, his influence in Shandong and East China was minimal. Because Shandong and East China were rife with factions, Rao Shushi, despite serving as Secretary of the East China Bureau for several years, was unable to fully untangle the local connections. After Rao Shushi's transfer to the central government, major figures in East China remained, including Chen Laozong, Tan Zhenlin, Xiang Ming, Zhan Tong, Ke Qingshi, and Zeng Xisheng.

Chen Yun went to Shandong and East China mainly for Marshal Lin.

This is what the Chairman is most worried about.

Things would only become serious if Marshal Lin and Gao Gang were too deeply involved.

Fortunately, Marshal Lin was a smart man. Seeing Chen Yun coming in person and the Chairman's harsh words, he quickly made a statement, distancing himself from Gao Gang and expressing his full support for the Central Committee's decision.

The Chairman did not care about what Gao Gang and Marshal Lin discussed in their previous private conversation.

What the Chairman wants is Marshal Lin’s attitude.

If Marshal Lin was involved in this matter, it meant the military was involved. Marshal Lin in this time and space was far less powerful and prestigious than he was in history. Especially during the Liberation War, Marshal Lin failed to turn the tide in Northeast China, nor did he integrate the entire Northeast army as he had in the past. But even if he wasn't as powerful as he was in history, Marshal Lin's influence on the military was still not to be underestimated.

So even if Marshal Lin and Gao Gang had indeed "conspired," Chairman Mao would have to expose him. Wei Hongjun arrived a few days later than Chen Yun, and Deng Xixian would have to wait a few days longer to return because he had to travel to many provinces.

The Chairman listened carefully to Wei Hongjun's visit to the local areas, focusing on the current ideological situation of cadres from various military regions and provinces. Wei Hongjun gave a detailed account of the trip, including his meetings with various cadres.

Wei Hongjun said that these military regions and local leaders all support the spirit of the enlarged meeting of the Secretariat and support the central government's decision.

They did not support Gao Gang's remarks that undermined party unity, but they also did not insist that the central government impose severe punishment on Gao Gang. The Chairman was very satisfied with Wei Hongjun's response. The Chairman sent Wei Hongjun and his team out of Beijing not only to convey the central government's message but also to stabilize local party members and cadres.

The Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee is coming soon.

The Chairman does not want to see a split within the party at the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee.

We should neither see a large number of voices supporting Gao Gang nor a large number of voices demanding that Gao Gang be dealt with, because if either voice becomes mainstream, it will affect the stability within the Party.

That's why Wei Hongjun and others were allowed to go there.

It was obvious that Wei Hongjun understood the Chairman's meaning and completed the task well when he arrived at the local area.

"What do you think about this issue?"

After listening to Wei Hongjun’s report, the Chairman asked Wei Hongjun this question.

The current Wei Hongjun is no longer the young general whom Chairman Mao first met in Yan'an. Back then, he was a rising star in the Eighth Route Army, not even an alternate member of the Central Committee at the Seventh National Congress. Yet, twelve years later, Wei Hongjun is now a member of the Politburo.

Even if Gao Gang is really punished, Wei Hongjun can replace Gao Gang and become a member of the Standing Committee.

The Chairman needs to hear the opinions of Party leaders like Wei Hongjun on how to characterize the Gao Gang incident. Currently, there is a powerful force within the Party pushing for a severe punishment of Gao Gang.

Peng Zhen is currently in charge of the work of the National People's Congress.

After the last enlarged meeting of the Secretariat, Peng Zhen discussed Gao Gang's issue with many cadres from the National People's Congress, including many non-party members.

Therefore, many NPC officials expressed the view that Gao Gang's actions were an "anti-Party attempt to usurp power" and must be dealt with severely. This included not only Party officials but also those outside the Party. They conveyed this message to the Chairman through various channels, stating that failing to deal with Gao Gang would not be enough to alert the public and serve as a warning to ambitious individuals within the Party.

It's not just the National People's Congress.

Non-Party democratic figures within the CPPCC are also keeping an eye on the Gao Gang incident. Gao Gang is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and a de facto leader of the Chinese Communist Party. They're eager to see how the CCP handles officials of Gao Gang's rank.

In the past twenty days or so, there have been more and more voices from Gao Gang that need to be dealt with.

This gave the chairman a headache.

The Chairman wanted to deal with Gao Gang, but he did not consider it as "anti-party" or to kill Gao Gang with one blow.

But rumors are already spreading within and outside the Party. If these calls become too strong, calling for Gao Gang to be labeled an "anti-Party usurper," even the Chairman won't be able to suppress them. The Chairman will then have to make a choice: protect Gao Gang or deal with him for the sake of Party unity.

Wei Hongjun had also carefully considered this issue. How to deal with Gao Gang would definitely be a landmark event for the CCP. Gao Gang was not the first high-ranking official to be dealt with within the party before him.

For example, Wang Ming, Bo Gu, and Wang Jiaxiang gradually withdrew from the top leadership of the CCP during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Then there were Kang Sheng and Zhang Wentian, who left the Politburo after the Seventh National Congress. Li Yu, Fang Fang, and others, representatives of localism and factionalism, were punished before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Regardless of how they were handled, each had their own circumstances, but none of them were charged with "anti-Party" crimes. Even cadres like Wang Ming and Bo Gu, who caused tremendous revolutionary losses, were not labeled "anti-Party" during the Rectification Movement.

However, starting from Gao Gang, the charge of "anti-party" appeared.

After that, the term began to appear frequently in intra-Party struggles. It was like the charge of "counter-revolution" during the Soviet "anti-counterrevolutionary" campaign. Everything was lumped into the category of "anti-Party."

It can be said that the Gao Rao incident definitely set a very bad precedent.

The Gao-Rao incident was also extremely horrific, with Gao Gang committing suicide, Rao Shushi being arrested, and the Pan-Yang incident in between. In the end, a large number of officials were affected. In particular, Gao Gang's so-called "Five Tiger Generals" were all dealt with, as was Zhou Huan's "Five Tiger Generals" theory.

So Wei Hongjun has been considering how to deal with the Gao Gang issue.

If Gao Gang's problem is properly handled, it will be a good start for the subsequent intra-party struggle.

Wei Hongjun now possesses sufficient rank and influence to consider such issues. The Chairman will also value the opinions of people like Wei Hongjun. So, Wei Hongjun said, "Chairman, I believe Comrade Gao Gang's mistakes this time are due to his personal ambitions and his failure to maintain his revolutionary ideology. But beyond these personal reasons, the greater reason is that the People's Republic of China was founded so recently, and our Party and government institutions have many shortcomings."

"Tell me more specifically."

Wei Hongjun's words actually interested the Chairman.

During this period, there was much criticism of Gao Gang, both inside and outside the Party. The criticism focused on Gao Gang himself. It was believed that Gao Gang was influenced by decadent bourgeois ideology, had inflated personal ambitions, and wanted to "oppose the Party and usurp power."

Wei Hongjun was the first to say that in addition to Gao Gang's personal problems, there were also problems with institutional construction.

Wei Hongjun said, "Chairman, let me discuss the Secretariat. Just like Comrade Gao Gang's previous proposal to strengthen the Secretariat's functions and divide up the responsibilities among its secretaries, there aren't many procedural issues. For nearly twenty years, the Secretariat has been handling the day-to-day work of the Party Central Committee. In particular, the Seventh National Congress did not establish a Politburo Standing Committee, leaving the Secretariat as the highest Party body. Therefore, even though the Politburo Standing Committee was restored at the Eighth National Congress, historical inertia persists. The powers and responsibilities of the Secretariat itself remain unclear."

"For example, although I am a member of the Secretariat, I basically don't participate in its work. I only attend important meetings. It's not just me; Comrade Deng Xixian and Comrade Peng Zhen are in the same situation. This in itself seriously affects the work of the Secretariat. There are too many figurehead secretaries in the Secretariat, and there is no substantive division of labor. Therefore, the power of the Secretariat is completely concentrated in the cadres who preside over its work."

"Additionally, the Secretariat's powers and responsibilities were unclear, so there wasn't a clear definition of what the Secretariat could and couldn't do. Because the Secretariat was once the highest organ of the Party, it seemed to have full control and could intervene in everything. So, after Comrade Gao Gang took over the Secretariat, from leading the 'Three Antis Movement' to later propaganda work like 'Changing Customs and Habits,' and from Party committee work to specific tasks, some of its work gradually began to overlap with that of the State Council."

"This situation was very common during the war years. Conflicts often occurred due to unclear responsibilities and powers. In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, some military sub-districts suffered from disorganized organizational structures and unclear divisions between departments, which impacted troop command. Later, when the troops were transformed into field armies, disorganized organizational structures also led to poor communication between the upper and lower levels."

"Because the work of the Secretariat and the State Council began to overlap, conflicts began to arise. The Secretariat wanted to directly handle the work of some State Council ministries and commissions, but the State Council was reluctant to allow the Secretariat to interfere in their work. This caused some disagreements and contradictions between the leadership of the Secretariat and the State Council, which eventually evolved into a substantive conflict. Comrade Gao Gang, formerly the top leader of the Party, government, and military in Northeast China, was accustomed to handling work in a strong manner. After taking charge of the Secretariat, because most of the Secretariat secretaries were just figureheads, many matters in the Secretariat were almost decided by his own words. Therefore, when these contradictions and conflicts arose, his first desire was to expand the Secretariat's functions and the scope of its power. Therefore, the emergence of this problem is due to both Comrade Gao Gang's work style and his long-term lax ideological construction. But it is also due to the current incompleteness of the various Party and government institutions, which has fueled Comrade Gao Gang's personal ambitions."

"If we simply dismiss Comrade Gao Gang's problem as a personal one and only address it as a personal one, we will fail to identify the root cause of the conflict, and the flaws in the political system will continue to exist. Therefore, I believe that the issues Comrade Gao Gang encountered require deeper reflection. The handling of this issue should focus on addressing the current imperfections of the central government agencies and the flaws in the political system. We should make the powers and responsibilities of the central government agencies clearer. Whoever is responsible for the work should handle it and be held accountable. Only when the powers and responsibilities of each agency and leader are clear can we address the root causes of these kinds of issues."

The Chairman did not interrupt Wei Hongjun and listened quietly.

The Chairman likes to talk to Wei Hongjun.

Because Wei Hongjun often can consider and solve many problems from another perspective. He does not focus on resolving the superficial contradictions, but rather digs deeper into the problems.

The problem with the Secretariat, as Wei Hongjun said, is that it bears too many historical traces.

Even after the Long March, while the Politburo still had a Standing Committee, the real power of the Party Central Committee lay in the Secretariat. Therefore, upon Wang Ming's return from the Soviet Union, his first act was to reorganize the Secretariat, using this method to control the decision-making of the Party Central Committee.

Later, during the Anti-Japanese War, although the personnel and institutions of the Party Central Committee underwent many changes, the Secretariat was always responsible for handling daily work. It was not until the Seventh National Congress that the Secretariat's status reached its peak, with the emergence of five secretaries.

This inertia is very powerful.

The Party was accustomed to the Secretariat handling the work of the Party Central Committee. Therefore, despite adjustments made at the Eighth National Congress, this was unlikely to be completely reversed within a few years. This was especially true when a strong leader like Gao Gang presided over the Secretariat.