Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Unfortunately it backfired.

After the State Council Party Group meeting was held, the topic did not start to discuss the work of the State Council, but instead turned to Gao Gang.

Lin Feng, Secretary General of the State Council and former Secretary of the Northeast Bureau, directly criticized Gao Gang.

Gao Gang and Lin Feng's conflict was a long one. From the very beginning when they were developing the Northeast base, they had been at loggerheads over the question of whether to develop the cities first and then the countryside, or the countryside first and then the cities.

Because Chen Yun was balancing the Northeast Bureau, Gao Gang became the main representative of the Northeast's rural-first, urban-second strategy, supported by Zhang Wentian. Meanwhile, Peng Zhen was the main force behind the urban-second strategy, supported by Lin Feng.

At that time, the Northeast Bureau held countless meetings on this issue.

Later, the two people's views on the construction of Northeast China were diametrically opposed.

Gao Gang opposed "rich peasant party members", while Lin Feng supported them. The two sides exchanged sharp words in the Northeast Bureau, but because Gao Gang was the secretary of the Northeast Bureau and had the support of Zhang Xiushan and others, he suppressed Lin Feng on this issue.

There has been a deep conflict between the two people in history.

Just like Gao Gang's "Five Tiger Generals," the term was first proposed by Zhou Huan at a meeting of senior officials in Northeast China, and ultimately formally defined by Lin Feng, who chaired the meeting, and Luo Qirong, who was sent by the Central Committee. Zhang Xiushan, in his memoirs about this senior official meeting, remarked that he was not allowed to speak at all and was simply labeled one of the "Five Tiger Generals."

At the State Council Party Group meeting, Lin Feng raised the issue of Gao Gang's "factionalism" and "sectarianism," intending to amplify Gao Gang's issues and implicate other Northeastern cadres.

"Comrade Lin Feng, I think you've gone off topic."

The State Council Party Leadership Group meetings are attended by the Premier, Vice Premiers, and Secretary-General of the State Council. Li Shiping attended the meetings in his capacity as Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council, but his primary job was to take notes and he was not eligible to speak at the meetings or participate in decision-making.

After Lin Feng spoke, the ones most qualified to speak were Chen Yun and Li Fuchun.

Because both of them were cadres from Northeast China, they, like Lin Feng, were more qualified to evaluate Gao Gang.

But neither of them spoke.

Wei Hongjun couldn't bear to see the State Council Party Committee meeting go astray, so he spoke directly, "This State Council Party Committee meeting is to further emphasize unity within the Party, eliminate the recent unrest, and restore the work of the State Council to normal. The Premier informed everyone of the agenda of the Party Committee meeting before the meeting. You are now bringing up Comrade Gao Gang's 'factionalism' and 'sectarianism,' promoting 'cronies,' and cracking down on Gao Gang's 'clique.' Isn't this deliberately running counter to the main theme of this meeting?"

"Comrade Gao Gang did make a mistake. The Politburo will make a conclusion on what those mistakes were. Before the Politburo reaches its conclusion, our State Council Party Group should not define Comrade Gao Gang's problem. Of course, our State Council Party Group does not have the authority to define Comrade Gao Gang's mistakes."

Wei Hongjun would not continue to agree with what Lin Feng said.

Because it is easy to fall into the self-proving trap.

Lin Feng's criticism of Gao Gang's "factionalism" and "sectarianism" will inevitably lead him to accuse some officials in the State Council ministries and commissions of being part of Gao Gang's "factionalism," "sectarianism," or "clique." If Wei Hongjun wants to refute this, he can only refute that these officials are not part of Gao Gang's "factionalism," "sectarianism," or even Gao Gang's "clique."

But how to refute this?

Is it possible that Wei Hongjun himself should come forward to guarantee these cadres? This is impossible.

At Wei Hongjun's level, he needed to be even more cautious and careful about these issues. He couldn't just give anyone a promise. If something went wrong, it would have a very negative impact on him.

Wei Hongjun will not seek trouble for himself.

And as long as Wei Hongjun starts to refute Lin Feng's statement, the meeting process will follow Lin Feng's ideas.

Because no matter what the final outcome of the State Council Party Committee meeting is, as long as this topic is hotly debated at the State Council Party Committee meeting, once the news gets out, the Gao Gang issue will continue to ferment and have an increasing influence both inside and outside the Party.

Since Wei Hongjun supports lowering the tone of the Gao Gang incident, he certainly cannot allow such a thing to happen.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun directly stated that Lin Feng's raising of such a topic at the State Council Party Leadership Group meeting was inherently wrong. First, the State Council Party Leadership Group meeting emphasized intra-Party unity, and Lin Feng's mention of Gao Gang violated the meeting agenda. Furthermore, the State Council is the nation's highest administrative body and handles administrative affairs. The State Council Party Leadership Group is a form of Party leadership over the government, and Party Leadership Group meetings typically discuss administrative matters.

In other words, the Party Leadership Group of the State Council has no power to criticize, or even to give an erroneous characterization to, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who has not yet stepped down.

"Since we must emphasize unity within the party, we must criticize phenomena that undermine it."

Wei Hongjun suddenly spoke, disrupting Lin Feng's original steps.

But Lin Feng refused to admit defeat.

Marshal Nie spoke up at this point, "Comrade Wei Hongjun is right. This is a State Council Party Group meeting. We have no right to characterize Comrade Gao Gang's mistakes. This is a matter for the Politburo. We are meeting today because many cadres are currently experiencing external interference, which has affected their normal work. We must address this issue, not exacerbate it."

Gao Gang's power increased greatly after being promoted to the central government.

But it is mainly concentrated in the Party Committee departments.

Whether it was Rao Shushi, who was involved, or Zhang Xiushan, Ma Mingfang, and Zhang Mingyuan, who were close to Gao Gang, all of them were promoted to the Party Committee. Therefore, Gao Gang's incident will not have much impact on these current State Council leaders.

Even if Gao Gang gives up his position, the ones who can take over are either Wei Hongjun or Deng Xixian.

Therefore, the leaders of the State Council hope that the State Council will be stable. Only when the State Council is stable and has achieved results will the vice premiers of the State Council have the opportunity to join the Politburo at the Ninth National Congress.

But they also didn't want to get too involved in Gao Gang's problems.

So I didn't speak before.

But once Wei Hongjun spoke up, everyone's concerns faded. Marshal Nie was the first to speak out in support of Wei Hongjun, stating that the State Council Party Group should not be discussing these issues.

"Correct."

Li Xiannian spoke.

Although Li Xiannian wasn't Vice Premier of the State Council, it was simply because he hadn't had the opportunity yet. After being promoted to the central government, Li Xiannian became a member of the State Council Party Leadership Group. Li Xiannian said, "Now is a crucial time to formulate the Second Five-Year Plan. Formulating the Second Five-Year Plan isn't just the responsibility of the Planning Commission; it's a matter that all ministries and commissions under the State Council must participate in. With so much work going on right now, it's even more important to emphasize unity within the Party and focus everyone's attention on their work. When the State Council holds a Party Leadership Group meeting, it should be to discuss the work of the State Council, not matters outside the State Council Party Leadership Group's purview."

"Yes. All sorts of gossip has been circulating in the State Council lately, directly affecting the work atmosphere. As members of the State Council's Party Leadership Group, we should stop the spread of this kind of news, rather than fueling it and disrupting the normal work of the State Council."

Deng Zhihui also expressed his views.

Only Zhao Dezun was affected in the Rural Work Department, but it had already affected the department's work. This was not just a matter for one cadre; some emotions could spread to others, causing problems in the entire work atmosphere.

Deng Zhihui was already dissatisfied with these things.

It's a good thing that the State Council is convening a Party Committee meeting to address this issue. However, Lin Feng, as the Secretary-General of the State Council, is instead expanding the issue and implicating even more officials. How could Deng Zhihui possibly be satisfied?

"I hope some comrades will stop seeking chaos in the world."

In the end, Deng Zhihui couldn't help but mock Lin Feng.

Deng Zhihui had originally had a very good impression of Lin Feng. Since Lin Feng's promotion to the central government as Secretary-General of the State Council, communication between the State Council and its leadership has become increasingly effective. Lin Feng's work as Secretary-General has been exceptional.

But this time, Lin Feng's actions made Deng Zhihui very dissatisfied. As the Secretary-General of the State Council, he fanned the flames and ignored the work of the State Council.

So Deng Zhihui didn't give Lin Feng any face at all.

"We should reassure people. The State Council has so much work to do that it really doesn't have the time to waste energy on other things. Now even the Ministry of Foreign Trade has been negatively affected."

Zhou Bin also had a headache.

Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Trade, including the Harbin Trade Fair for socialist countries, has a large number of former Northeastern cadres. However, due to the deliberate exaggeration of some people, normal work has been affected.

The Prime Minister has not expressed his position since the meeting began.

It should be said that the Premier has maintained this attitude ever since the Gao Gang incident erupted. He truly sits on the throne, unfazed by Gao Gang's escalating actions. The Premier has deep roots within the Party and the military, and unless it involves a rebellion, ordinary disturbances have no impact on him.

If the recent turmoil hadn't affected the normal work of the State Council, the Premier wouldn't have agreed to hold this State Council Party Group meeting. Now, seeing everyone's opinions, the Premier slowly said, "Comrades, you are right. This meeting is to address the issues you have raised."

Be kind and follow the flow.

The Prime Minister accepted everyone's suggestions.

The need now is to calm people's hearts and avoid panic. Therefore, the next State Council Party Group meeting focused on how to calm people's hearts. The final outcome was to reiterate the importance of inner-Party unity: no State Council official is allowed to spread false rumors, discuss the Gao Gang issue, or do anything to undermine inner-Party unity.

The main purpose of this Party Committee meeting was to stop the spread of Gao Gang's affairs within the State Council. In fact, it was to oppose the expansion of Gao Gang's issues and the involvement of other State Council officials.

This is a relatively clear signal.

That is, the State Council will not follow the National People's Congress in exaggerating the Gao Gang issue and demanding that the central government severely punish Gao Gang. After the content of the State Council Party Group meeting spread, it had an immediate effect on the cadres of the major ministries and commissions of the State Council.

Many cadres felt relieved.

The work of the State Council also began to stabilize.

The State Council Party Group meeting brought the situation in Beijing to a delicate state. Previously, calls for severe punishment of Gao Gang had been growing louder and louder, even threatening to escalate. However, after the State Council Party Group meeting, this situation came to an abrupt end.

The cadres from the State Council all disagree with expanding the matter to other cadres.

A delicate balance began to emerge.

979 Gao Gang's Arrangement

After the State Council Party Group meeting, the atmosphere in Beijing relaxed somewhat. No one continued to publicly seize on the topic of Gao Gang's "group" and target the cadres who came from northern Shaanxi and the Northeast.

Previously, there was a strong call within and outside the party to eradicate the "Gao Gang Group".

But after the State Council set the tone, these voices were immediately suppressed. This also shows the strength of the State Council at this stage, or that the State Council currently has a large number of powerful cadres from the central government.

The majority of officials initially transferred from local central bureaus were concentrated in the State Council. Even officials like Xi Zhongxun, who not only served as Minister of Propaganda but also held positions within the State Council, were concentrated in the State Council. While the abundance of powerful officials led to a proliferation of factions within the State Council, it was precisely this strong position within the State Council that ensured stability for most central officials.

Those cadres who had worked with Gao Gang in the past and had a good personal relationship with him could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

No longer nervous.

But just a little bit of relaxation.

Because many cadres on the National People's Congress side are still holding on to this matter.

At this time, the Central Committee's handling of the Gao Gang issue was proceeding in an orderly manner. Comrade Xiuyang presided over several enlarged meetings of the Secretariat, at which Gao Gang and Rao Shushi continued to review their mistakes.

Although Gao Gang and Rao Shushi reviewed their mistakes, they also understood what mistakes could be admitted and what mistakes could not be admitted. Both admitted that they had problems with their thinking and violated the party's organizational discipline.

Furthermore, after Gao Gang and Rao Shushi's incident, their various past issues were also brought to light. After all, when historical issues are exposed, no one can be blameless. Gao Gang's history during the establishment of the Shaanxi-North base area was also unclear, as was Rao Shushi's "Huanghuatang Incident."

There are also reports that they live a luxurious life.

Gao Gang and Rao Shushi both acknowledged these issues. They knew that after this incident, their histories would inevitably be reexamined, and under a magnifying glass. Therefore, they readily admitted their mistakes.

But both of them firmly denied the claim of an "anti-party group".

Because both knew that if they admitted to this crime, their political careers would be completely over, and there would even be more serious consequences. So both of them gritted their teeth and persisted, no matter how some cadres at the enlarged Secretariat meeting criticized them and tried to get them to admit the fact that they were an "anti-Party group," they absolutely refused to admit it.

Of course, on the one hand, Gao Gang and Rao Shushi were criticized in large and small meetings, and on the other hand, the central government began to adjust the positions of some cadres.

Deputy Chief of the General Staff, He Nian, has left the General Staff Headquarters to enroll in the Campaign Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Military Academy for three years of study. Given He Nian's current position and rank within the Central Military Commission, he wouldn't have attended the PLA Military Academy. Even if He Nian were to attend, it would likely have been shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China. At that time, many senior military officials, including Huang Yong, attended the PLA Military Academy. However, he certainly wouldn't have attended the Military Academy after becoming Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

But He was inevitably influenced by Gao Gang this year.

There is no way around it.

During Gao Gang's time in Northeast China, the three cadres who supported him most were Zhang Wentian, Zhang Xiushan, and He Nianfen. He Nianfen himself came from the Shaanxi-Gansu Red Army and had a deep historical connection with Gao Gang. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, he and Gao Gang traveled to Northeast China again. When Gao Gang presided over land reform and bandit suppression in North Manchuria, He Nianfen was one of the generals Gao Gang relied on most. Although other generals participated in the North Manchuria bandit suppression, Xiao Yongshi and Chu He had the largest and most powerful forces. Later, Wang Qiuyun led the main force into North Manchuria to participate in the bandit suppression.

However, their relationship with Gao Gang was not close. After the large-scale bandit suppression campaign, they immediately reorganized into the field army corps. Only He Nianfen remained with Gao Gang and participated in the complete elimination of the Northeastern bandits. Therefore, it is well known that He Nianfen was the military commander Gao Gang relied on most in the Northeast.

At present, Zhang Wentian has been suspended from his post, and this time He went to study at the PLA Military Academy this year.

The central government did not take drastic measures to deal with the Gao Gang issue.

Instead, he slowly closed the net.

The first people to be dealt with were military officials. After all, the People's Republic of China had just been established, and if anything happened, the military would be the most worried. Therefore, the military generals who had close ties with Gao Gang were the first to be affected and the first to be adjusted.

After He this year, the next person to take over is Wang Jianan, commander of the Jinan Military Region.

When the national military regions were reorganized, Wang Jianan's appointment as commander of the Jinan Military Region was a major achievement thanks to Gao Gang and Rao Shushi. The central government initially had some reservations about Wang Jianan. Normally, it would have been difficult for Wang Jianan to independently command a major military region.