Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

It was uncertainty that caused everyone to panic, as no one knew who would be implicated. Of course, some people sought to triumph amidst the chaos, believing the more chaotic the situation, the greater their chances. So they favored chaos, deliberately muddying the waters. It was precisely because so many people were secretly fanning the flames that many small incidents eventually became major ones.

Fortunately, there are results now.

People from several parties have made some compromises.

Moreover, due to the emergence of the Gao Gang issue, the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China suddenly became very important. Originally, the agenda of the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee was mainly to prepare for the Ninth National Congress, and there were no other important matters.

But now, because of the Gao Gang issue, the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee will also discuss changes to the Politburo, the reorganization of the Secretariat, and the future of Gao Gang, Rao Shushi and others. Each change will affect the subsequent political situation and the upcoming Ninth National Congress.

The Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in March.

The reason for the March date was because the 20th Congress of the CPSU was to be held in February. As the leader of the socialist bloc, the CPSU Congress was not just a matter for the CPSU itself. Every move by the CPSU would impact other socialist countries and the entire international communist movement.

The same is true in China.

Therefore, the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the CPC was held half a month after the 20th Congress of the CPSU. This half-month buffer was enough for the Central Committee to understand and analyze the policy changes of the CPSU during the 20th Congress.

苏共二十大是1956年2月14日召开，而中国这边的春节是2月12日。

Therefore, the Chinese delegation flew to Moscow the day after the Lunar New Year holiday. The Chinese delegation to the 20th Congress of the CPSU was led by Wei Hongjun and included Vice Premiers Li Fuchun and Zhou Bin, Li Xiannian, a member of the State Council Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the State Planning Commission, Zhang Wentian, former Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Liu Xiao, Chinese Ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Wei Hongjun led the Chinese delegation to Moscow and received a warm welcome.

The Soviet Communist Party attached great importance to the Chinese delegation.

Although China is a backward agricultural country, it is a political and military power that no one can ignore in the socialist camp.

Furthermore, China's economic development in recent years has had an increasing influence on the socialist camp. Thanks to the agricultural and sideline products and lightly processed goods provided by China, the living standards of the entire socialist camp have been significantly improved.

In the past, both the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, deeply influenced by Stalin and Soviet socialist construction, prioritized heavy industry, regardless of size. As a result, the entire socialist camp suffered from a shortage of not only agricultural and sideline products but also basic necessities. However, since China joined the socialist camp, even furniture prices in the socialist camp have dropped significantly.

The Northeast is full of cooperative-based furniture processing factories.

Those furniture were exported to the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.

In 1955, China even began exporting small quantities of coffee beans to the socialist countries, much to their surprise. Starting in 1956, coffee production in Yunnan would experience a rapid increase, and the export value of coffee beans would continue to rise.

Therefore, cooperation between China and the Soviet Union and Eastern European socialist countries became increasingly frequent. Furthermore, after the death of Comrade Stalin, Chairman Mao's position in the world communist movement reached its peak. Therefore, no one dared to neglect the Chinese delegation.

Of course, they valued the Chinese delegation, and also valued the young leader of the delegation, Wei Hongjun. Wei Hongjun was not yet a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, but he was able to lead the delegation to the Soviet Union to attend such an important meeting as the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This shows Wei Hongjun's status within the Communist Party of China.

The 20th Congress of the CPSU was a major event for the world communist movement.

Therefore, a total of 55 countries and regions in the world had delegations of proletarian parties who were invited to attend the th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. And the participants of the th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were basically the top leaders of the proletarian parties in various countries, or one of the leaders of the party.

Wei Hongjun is only a member of the Politburo, which seems very out of place.

But no one looked at Wei Hongjun strangely. Even though the Korean War had ended several years ago, its influence hadn't diminished. Wei Hongjun's name still resonated throughout the world, a name truly known to everyone. Upon hearing that Wei Hongjun was the head of the Chinese delegation, leaders of proletarian political parties in many countries and regions came to visit him.

The Soviet Union's attitude was even more favorable. Khrushchev genuinely wanted to win over China to his side. Wei Hongjun and his delegation arrived in Moscow on February 2th. Khrushchev, along with key leaders of the CPSU Central Committee, hosted a banquet for the Chinese delegation. Khrushchev personally held Wei Hongjun's hand, demonstrating the close relationship between the Soviet Union and China.

On February 1956, 2, the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union officially began.

The three people, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Khrushchev, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Bulganin, and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Mikoyan, served as the hosts and spoke and reported at the conference.

As General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Khrushchev delivered the "Summary Report of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to the 20th Congress of the Party", which is the political report of the 20th Congress of the CPSU.

Wei Hongjun has been learning Russian since the Anti-Japanese War.

Although he couldn't achieve complete fluency, after so many years of study, he had no problem seeing and hearing. Looking at the materials in his hands and listening to Khrushchev's report, Wei Hongjun quickly took notes in his notebook.

Khrushchev's report was divided into three parts.

There's the international part, the domestic part, and then there's the fight against the cult of personality.

In the international section, Khrushchev analyzed the changes in the relationship between China and capitalist countries and put forward three "peace" theories: "peaceful coexistence", "peaceful competition" and "peaceful transition".

This was the beginning of Khrushchev's change in Stalin-era policies at the diplomatic level.

Khrushchev stated that the peace-loving countries of Europe and Asia formed a vast "peace zone," and that the Communist Parties and other social groups in the capitalist countries had adopted an anti-war stance. Many Social Democrats advocated an active struggle against the danger of war, advocating rapprochement with the socialist countries and supporting the unification of the workers' movement. The more far-sighted representatives of the imperialist ruling clique were beginning to recognize the bankruptcy of the "position of strength" policy. Under the influence of these facts, some signs of sobering up began to appear among the Western ruling classes. Recently, prominent figures in capitalist countries have increasingly frankly admitted that "there will be no winners" in a war involving the use of atomic weapons. This indicates that the forces opposing war are growing in the world and that there is no need for armed confrontation between socialist and capitalist countries. This was Khrushchev's first diplomatic "peace theory," the theory of "peaceful coexistence."

Khrushchev explicitly acknowledged that the advent of nuclear weapons reduced the likelihood of direct war between major powers, leading to the enduring existence of socialism and imperialism. Khrushchev's assessment of the international situation and his diplomatic philosophy were directly articulated at the 20th Congress of the CPSU.

Khrushchev stated that the onset of a general capitalist crisis does not mean complete stagnation in the imperialist countries, a cessation of production and technological progress there. This idea is incompatible with the Marxist-Leninist view. It is necessary to carefully examine the capitalist economy, not simply to accept Lenin's doctrine of imperialist decadence, but to study all that is good offered by capitalist science and technology in order to utilize the achievements of world technological progress in the interests of socialism.

Wei Hongjun still supported Khrushchev's judgment.

However, Khrushchev's policies based on this judgment were very crude. Historically, several of Khrushchev's important policies were basically unsuccessful, and instead left a huge mess in the Soviet Union.

As a result, his reforms to the Soviet Union not only failed, but he was abandoned by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Wei Hongjun emphasized "peaceful coexistence" and "peaceful competition."

These two will be the focus of discussion in the Politburo upon their return. After all, "peaceful coexistence," or long-term coexistence with capitalist countries, is a crucial assessment of the international situation. Different assessments of the international situation will directly impact domestic development.

If you believe war is imminent, then the focus of development must be on the military industry. However, if you believe you can "peacefully coexist" with imperialist countries and war is not imminent, then you can invest more resources in the areas of people's livelihood.

Therefore, this kind of judgment of the situation is actually more important than anything else.

Lenin and Stalin also believed that the general crisis in imperialist countries was intensifying and that internal revolution would soon occur. This thinking also influenced some within the Communist Party of China. Therefore, how to judge the development of European and American imperialism was also a task for Wei Hongjun.

There is also "Peaceful Competition".

Wei Hongjun also has many thoughts on this topic, which he needs to discuss in detail upon returning to China. Khrushchev's "peaceful competition" meant that both sides would jointly develop their economies, with the one that achieved greater development demonstrating its superior system. This "peaceful competition" would allow the merits of socialism and capitalism to be determined. The international community would then naturally determine which system was more advanced. However, after Khrushchev proposed the idea of ​​"peaceful competition," events did not proceed as he envisioned. Instead, the United States and the Soviet Union entered into an arms race.

Moreover, given the Soviet Union's strength and the "arms race" with the United States, it would need China even more.

Wei Hongjun had always considered how to maximize China's interests when the Soviet Union adjusted its policies. He had many plans in mind, but he just didn't express them.

Now is the right time.

The domestic section of Khrushchev's report reiterated the two basic economic development principles of prioritizing the development of heavy industry and the reclamation of wasteland (the Siberian Development). It also emphasized strengthening the Soviet legal system, which Khrushchev believed was relatively weak.

Of course, Khrushchev mentioned the construction of the Soviet rule of law mainly to rehabilitate those who participated in the anti-counterrevolutionary movement.

In the past two years, Khrushchev rehabilitated a large number of cadres who had been targeted by the Soviet anti-counterrevolutionary movement. However, this was only a large-scale rehabilitation, and many people were not even rehabilitated after a retrial, but were directly declared not guilty.

In some places, people are released from prison without even having their files sorted out.

There is no explanation.

At the 20th Congress of the CPSU, Khrushchev sought to justify these exonerations. In his report, Khrushchev cited the "Leningrad Cases" and other purges, claiming they were fabricated by Beria and his cronies. He even claimed that most of the people convicted during the purges were innocent.

When Khrushchev said this, many conference delegates became very excited.

Representatives of the proletariat from various countries were also whispering to each other.

Khrushchev repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with the purges. While he didn't directly repudiate them, he certainly expressed similar sentiments. The Soviet purges weren't limited to internal Soviet operations. Proletarian parties in virtually every country influenced by the Soviet Union experienced similar practices.

Moreover, the Soviet Union's anti-counterrevolutionary movement was directly led by Comrade Stalin.

Now Khrushchev is almost completely denying the anti-counterrevolutionary movement, which will definitely involve Comrade Stalin. That's why everyone is discussing it.

The last part of the report focuses on criticizing "personality cult".

Although no name was mentioned, the meaning was clear.

That is, Comrade Stalin promoted a "cult of personality." He then went on to say that the cult of personality transformed this or that activist into a miracle-working hero, while simultaneously diminishing the role of the Party and the masses and reducing their creative initiative. The prevalence of the cult of personality diminished the Party's collective leadership and brought serious damage to its work.

Overall, there is nothing wrong with criticism.

It is right to criticize "personality cult" and promote collective leadership.

But in light of the aforementioned denial of the purge, his report becomes much more nuanced. But judging solely from this report, Khrushchev's opposition to the "cult of personality" and his advocacy of collective leadership are not problematic.

Of course, this kind of report is just nice to say.

Just like how Li Lisan criticized Qu Qiubai's leftist mistakes, but after taking office, he became even more leftist than Qu Qiubai. Later, Wang Ming and Bo Gu also criticized Li Lisan's leftist adventurism at first, but after forming the Provisional Central Committee, they implemented even more serious leftist adventurism.

Khrushchev's current criticism of the "cult of personality" is aimed at negating Comrade Stalin.

Rather than really strengthening collective leadership.

Khrushchev also engaged in "personality cult" when he came to power.

Regardless, Khrushchev's political report was considered the outline of the Soviet Communist Party's future policies. After attending the first day of the meeting, Wei Hongjun immediately called a meeting with several members of the delegation.

"Comrade Zhang Wentian, Comrade Liu Xiao, you have spent considerable time in the Soviet Union and are quite familiar with the situation there. What is the current view of Comrade Stalin within the CPSU?"

Although Khrushchev did not mention Comrade Stalin by name, his criticism of "personality cult" was directed directly at Comrade Stalin.

Everyone heard this.

The same is true for leaders of proletarian parties in other countries.

Although Khrushchev's political report was not as devastating as the "secret report" that came about ten days later, it had already made many leaders of the proletarian parties attending the meeting sense that something bad was going on.

At most, they would think that this was Khrushchev's attempt to consolidate his position.

Let me first belittle Comrade Stalin.

But Wei Hongjun knew that Khrushchev's political report was a preparation for completely negating Comrade Stalin a dozen days later.

"Ever since the Beria and Molotov incidents, more and more people within the CPSU leadership have criticized Comrade Stalin's mistakes. Even those who have been rehabilitated in recent years have been the most critical of Comrade Stalin. They have even publicly demanded that Comrade Stalin be held accountable for his mistakes during the anti-counterrevolutionary movement. This group of people is quite numerous, and therefore has considerable influence in the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, in the past two years, Soviet newspapers have consistently downplayed Comrade Stalin and criticized the mistakes of the anti-counterrevolutionary movement. It's clear that there's a consensus within the CPSU leadership, at least to a certain extent, to link the mistakes of the anti-counterrevolutionary movement to Comrade Stalin's 'personality cult.'"

Zhang Wentian spoke.

Zhang Wentian has a deep understanding of this aspect.

Because when he was ambassador to the Soviet Union, he had already begun to study the changes in the Soviet Communist Party in depth. The cadres involved in the Gao Gang issue have now generally been sent to a place, whether good or bad, and a conclusion has been reached.

On the contrary, Zhang Wentian has not given a definitive conclusion.

Zhang Wentian, however, had gotten used to it. From being the highest leader of the Party, he was now just a member of the Central Committee, and even the Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs had been dismissed. With so much experience, his mentality had improved a lot. Zhang Wentian was quite surprised to be able to attend the 20th Congress of the CPSU as a member of the delegation.

Because this shows that even if I am dealt with later, it won't be too serious.

So Zhang Wentian actively devoted himself to his work again, as if he was not affected at all.

"What about the vast majority of members of the CPSU?"

"Over the past year or so, I've visited many places in the Soviet Union, including many factories. Many middle- and lower-level cadres of the CPSU have deep feelings for Comrade Stalin, and the majority still support him. There are even quite a few party members who believe that it's inappropriate to rehabilitate those people on such a large scale and then allow them to speak freely outside."

Liu Xiao answered.

Liu Xiao was a cadre from the intelligence field. Strictly speaking, he was also a cadre from Pan Hannian's line. After Pan Hannian's incident, many cadres from his line were investigated. However, Liu Xiao, a veteran cadre who joined the Party during the Great Revolution, remained unaffected and became the third ambassador to the Soviet Union.

After the Pan Hannian case, Liu Xiao actively campaigned for him, looking for evidence and contacting officials who had worked with Pan Hannian, and together they wrote a letter to the Central Committee to appeal for Pan Hannian's injustice.

Precisely because Liu Xiao came from an underground background, he was very sensitive.

After arriving in the Soviet Union, I soon realized that although the Soviet side seemed calm, big things were brewing inside.

I just haven't figured out what it is.

But when Wei Hongjun mentioned the Soviet Communist Party's view of Comrade Stalin, and Zhang Wentian added to his comments, Liu Xiao suddenly felt a jolt throughout his body. It wasn't just Liu Xiao; Li Fuchun and Zhou Bin felt the same way.

Especially Li Fuchun.