Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

This is absolutely unpopular.

The army brought out tanks and suppressed its own people to resolve the situation. This incident directly affected the standing of the CPSU Central Committee among the Soviet people. The already unstable situation due to the 20th Congress and the "Secret Report" became even more tense.

Is there any external interference behind this?

No one said it was bad.

Regardless of whether there were external forces involved, the deployment of troops and tanks caused the Soviet Communist Party to lose widespread support in Georgia. Separatist forces have been growing in Georgia, and this cannot be said to be unrelated to the bloodshed in Tbilisi.

And its international influence is also very bad.

The Soviet Union was known as a socialist democracy, the country that carried the banner of socialism. And what is democracy? It means the people are the masters of their own destiny. But if you use tanks against your own people, doesn't your democracy become hypocritical?

After something like this happens, how can you compete with imperialist countries for the initiative in public opinion in the world?

No matter how nicely you talk about how advanced Marxism-Leninism is, how advanced the socialist system is, and how the people in socialist countries are masters of their own destiny, who would believe you after this kind of thing is exposed? The international communist movement is morally superior to imperialism.

After all, since the birth of Marxism, the bourgeoisie's exploitation of the proletariat has been severe for hundreds of years, and wars between imperialist powers have continued. Therefore, the birth of Marxism-Leninism and the Soviet Union were, in many ways, offensive actions against imperialism, as they accuse it from a higher moral perspective.

But everything has its pros and cons.

The downside is that you can criticize others from a moral standpoint, but the prerequisite is that you must be qualified to speak morally. Just like Hai Rui could criticize officials for corruption, and others would not say anything. But if Yan Song criticized officials for corruption, he would be laughed at.

The same is true of Marxism-Leninism.

The same thing happened in imperialist countries, so I'll do it. I'm a capitalist country to begin with. If you affect the interests of capitalists, I'll deal with you. What can you do?

But if a socialist country does it, the situation will be completely different.

It's like a bad guy doing something bad; it's perfectly natural, and no one will make a fuss about it. But if a good person who prides themselves on being moral does something bad, not only will others doubt your moral standards, but they will also doubt your character.

This is the case in the Soviet Union today.

The Soviet Union exported revolution, led the international communist movement, and supported national independence. Overall, its influence on the world was positive. But if you're operating tanks on your own soil, and this taint is exposed, how can your followers trust you?

And what happened in Georgia was not an isolated incident in the Soviet Union.

Such clashes occurred throughout the Soviet Union, but the most serious were in Georgia, with the highest number of casualties and arrests.

Some people within the CPSU had already begun to criticize Khrushchev for being too reckless, and some local party committees had expressed their disapproval of Khrushchev's "secret report" and their opposition to the total negation of Comrade Stalin's approach.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union received a large number of protest letters from local areas every day.

Khrushchev was now in a state of panic. Although he had anticipated the significant impact of the "Secret Report," he had not anticipated the serious conflicts and protests that would ensue. Of course, Khrushchev's greatest concern now lay within the CPSU Central Committee.

Bigwigs in the CPSU Central Committee, such as Malenkov, Molotov, and Bulganin, had been observing the current events with aloof eyes. Khrushchev knew that these people were only temporarily dormant. If Khrushchev lost control of the situation, they would jump out and expel him.

So Khrushchev is very anxious now.

When the news reached China, the central government became more cautious.

Block the news first.

News from the Soviet Union was prohibited from entering the country, and major newspapers received orders from the Propaganda Department that no reports on the Soviet Union, the 20th Congress of the CPSU, or Comrade Stalin be published without the permission of the Secretariat and the Propaganda Department.

But this is only temporary.

Because this kind of news can't be kept secret.

Since the Sino-Soviet cooperation strengthened, thousands of students were sent to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe each year, and thousands more returned to China after completing their studies. Whenever they returned, this kind of news would naturally spread.

Furthermore, the trade between China and the Soviet Union along the border is growing, and the people on both sides interact with each other every day. Information about what happened in the Soviet Union would also reach China through these channels.

China is currently doing business with Hong Kong.

There are advantages and disadvantages.

The benefits are obvious: the processing industry in Guangdong is booming, driving the local economy. However, the downside is that European and American intelligence agencies, using China and Hong Kong to do business, can also infiltrate.

They certainly wouldn't let go of such a good opportunity and used various channels to spread the news in the socialist countries.

The central government suppressed the news mainly to buy time. From March 1956 to March 3, 11, the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing. Although there was chaos outside, the Communist Party's own meeting still had to be held.

Originally, this meeting was planned to last eight to ten days.

But there was so much going on.

First there was the Gao Gang issue, and then there was the issue of the 20th Congress of the CPSU. These two issues converged, so it was finally decided to hold the meeting for sixteen days.

The chairman of this meeting personally delivered the "Report of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to the Fifth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee." Originally, this was not a national Party congress like the Seventh, Eighth, or Ninth National Congresses, but rather a report from an interim meeting, which was usually the responsibility of Comrade Xiuyang.

However, because the importance of the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee suddenly increased significantly, the Chairman personally made this report.

This report is divided into three parts.

The first part is the work report of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee since the Fourth Session of the Eighth Central Committee; the second part is on strengthening the unity of the Party; the third part is on strengthening democratic centralism within the Party; and the fourth part is the report on convening the Ninth National Congress of the Party.

To sum up, there are actually two problems.

One is the Gao Gang issue, and the other is the issue of convening the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

The Gao Gang issue was officially concluded at this meeting.

It is believed that the reason for Gao Gang's problem is that the Party is still pursuing a policy of alliance with the bourgeoisie, rather than a policy of eliminating it. Therefore, the petty bourgeoisie still surrounds the Party like a vast ocean, and many of them have also entered the Party, leading to a very serious petty-bourgeois mentality within the Party. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party of China has grown rapidly and currently has nearly six million members. However, Marxist-Leninist education within the Party is still insufficient, and the ideological and political situation among some cadres remains quite complex. Furthermore, some cadres, even some senior cadres, lack a clear understanding of the importance of Party unity, the importance of collective leadership, the importance of democratic centralism, and the importance of consolidating and enhancing the prestige of the Central Committee.

Especially since the victory of China's New Democratic Revolution, a dangerous sense of pride has developed among some Party cadres. Their achievements have carried them to their heads, and they have forgotten the humility and self-criticism essential to Communist Party members. They tend to exaggerate their personal contributions and emphasize their prestige, believing themselves to be supreme. They can only accept flattery and praise, but not criticism or oversight. They suppress and retaliate against critics, even viewing the regions and departments they lead as personal capital and independent kingdoms. They often mistake the achievements of the Party and the people for their own contributions and personal merits.

They violated the Party's democratic centralism, suppressed inner-Party democracy, forgot the weapon of criticism and self-criticism, disregarded the Party's organizational principles, forgot their mission as Communist Party members, were corrupted by bourgeois ideology, and undermined Party unity and discipline for personal ambition.

The central government will never show leniency to such cadres.

Fortunately, despite the harsh criticism, the Central Committee's verdict was simply "the Gao-Rao issue," not "the Gao-Rao anti-Party and counter-revolutionary clique." With this verdict, the matter became an internal Party issue, not a life-and-death enemy-and-enemy situation, which left room for maneuver.

Gao Gang and Rao Shushi both made self-criticisms at the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee.

Admit your mistakes.

Of course, they do not have the capital to resist the Central Committee's handling of the matter.

At the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee, it was decided to remove Comrade Gao Gang from the Politburo Standing Committee and the Politburo, remove Comrade Rao Shushi from the Politburo, and remove Comrade Zhang Xiushan from the Central Committee as an alternate member.

On the contrary, Zhang Wentian, who was the first to be dealt with, was lucky enough to retain his position as a member of the Central Committee.

It can be said that the Premier showed some mercy to Zhang Wentian this time. When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs initially dealt with Zhang Wentian, the Premier sent a report to the Chairman, hinting that he intended to punish Zhang Wentian.

But later the Prime Minister did not "kill" Zhang Wentian.

Zhang Wentian's primary offense this time was "opposing the Premier," particularly his public criticism of the Premier at a Foreign Ministry meeting. Had the Premier said anything unkind, Zhang Wentian's history would have meant he would have lost his position as a member of the Central Committee. After all, the Central Committee prioritizes unity within the Party and is wary of internal divisions. If the Central Committee wanted unity, it would have been with the Premier, not Zhang Wentian. If they had united with Zhang Wentian, given the Premier's position and influence within the Party, it would have been a veritable split within the Party. Therefore, the Premier's stance was crucial. Yet, the Premier never spoke a single bad word against Zhang Wentian.

Zhang Wentian and Wei Hongjun went to the Soviet Union and performed well at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, so they retained their membership in the Central Committee. However, although Zhang Wentian retained his membership in the Central Committee, he was still unable to stay in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee, Zhang Wentian was also criticized.

He was officially relieved of his post as Executive Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was appointed Secretary of the Secretariat of the Henan Provincial Party Committee and Vice Governor of Henan Province, cooperating with Luo Weilin, Deputy Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, and was responsible for Henan's agriculture, water conservancy, transportation and other departments.

When dealing with Wu Zhipu, the central government did not make large-scale adjustments to Henan's cadres for the sake of stability. However, the central government would continue to send cadres to Henan whenever it had the opportunity.

It is also to warn Henan cadres against "localism".

Zhang Wentian's wife, Liu Ying, will remain at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but she will no longer be an Assistant Minister. The specific arrangements for her will require consideration by the Premier and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After Gao Gang was removed from his positions as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the Politburo, he was also removed from his positions as General Secretary of the Central Committee and First Secretary of the Secretariat. He was appointed Director of the "Preparatory Committee for the Construction of Central and Western China."

At present, this is still an empty shell unit.

The status of this unit still needs to be discussed by the Politburo before it can be formally established.

Rao Shushi was removed from the Politburo and Secretariat membership and appointed as the head of the Central and Southern Region of the State Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

After Gao Gang was removed from the Politburo Standing Committee, the Central Committee added Wei Hongjun as a new member of the Politburo Standing Committee and elected him as General Secretary of the Central Committee. In fact, Wei Hongjun replaced Gao Gang.

After Gao Gang and Rao Shushi left the Politburo, Li Fuchun and Deng Zhihui were added as members of the Politburo.

After the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee consisted of the Chairman, Comrade Xiu Yang, the Premier, the Commander-in-Chief, Chen Yun, Marshal Nie, and Wei Hongjun; the members of the Political Bureau were Deng Xixian, Dong Biwu, Lin Boqu, General Peng, Peng Zhen, Marshal Lin, General He, Marshal Luo, Li Fuchun, and Deng Zhihui.

At the age of 41, Wei Hongjun officially entered the core leadership of the Communist Party of China.

Although many people knew that Wei Hongjun's appointment as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee was inevitable, no one expected it to happen so soon. Of course, Wei Hongjun's rapid ascension to the Politburo Standing Committee was also due to some unexpected events.

Just like Comrade Ren Peiguo died prematurely, Wei Hongjun won a great victory in Korea, Comrade Gao Gang made mistakes, and so on.

But even the unexpected was a natural progression. Wei Hongjun had already shone during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, rising from a company-level cadre in the Eighth Route Army to the position of secretary of the local Central Committee within a decade. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he achieved remarkable success in the Korean War, land reform, rural development, and energy construction. Had Wei Hongjun's early experience not been so limited, his achievements and status would have long since qualified him for the position of Politburo Standing Committee member.

Then it was about reorganizing the Secretariat.

The Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee approved the Political Bureau's plan to reorganize the Secretariat.

From this point on, the Secretariat no longer had a nominal position of secretary; all secretaries were required to have specific responsibilities. It was also stipulated that the Secretariat was a Party committee department, distinct from the State Council, an administrative department. Because of the Gao Gang incident, this reorganization of the Secretariat emphasized democratic centralism and the division of labor among the secretaries and alternate secretaries.

The Central Committee approved the nomination of the Political Bureau and appointed Wei Hongjun, General Secretary of the Central Committee and member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee, as First Secretary of the Secretariat, with overall responsibility for the work of the Secretariat.

This was the first time that Wei Hongjun was responsible for handling central party affairs after being promoted to the central government.

Of course, Wei Hongjun's appointment as First Secretary of the Secretariat was a temporary one. It was due to Gao Gang's sudden problems, and someone was needed to manage the Secretariat before the Ninth National Congress. Currently, Wei Hongjun is the only person in the Politburo who is qualified to replace Gao Gang on the Standing Committee and be in charge of the Secretariat.

In other words, the appointment period is one year, until the Ninth National Congress.

It's impossible for Wei Hongjun to be First Secretary of the Secretariat, handling the day-to-day work of the Party Central Committee, while also being Vice Premier of the State Council and Third Deputy Secretary of the Party Group. The Central Committee cannot allow such a cadre to exist; this is merely a temporary measure.

After the Ninth National Congress, Wei Hongjun would either officially become First Secretary of the Secretariat, taking charge of central Party affairs, or continue to serve as Vice Premier of the State Council, overseeing economic development. Although this was a temporary measure, some of Wei Hongjun's duties were adjusted.

Wei Hongjun no longer serves as Minister of Rural Work.

Following the nominations of the Politburo, primarily those of Wei Hongjun, the Central Committee appointed Deng Zhihui as Minister of the Rural Work Department. Tan Zhenlin was appointed First Vice Minister, Li Shaocheng as Second Vice Minister, Lai Ruoyu as Third Vice Minister, Zhao Dezun as Fourth Vice Minister, and Zhang Linchi as Secretary-General of the Rural Work Department.

Wei Hongjun was not the only one who adjusted the work at the Fifth Session of the Eighth Central Committee.

The Central Committee appointed Political Bureau member Deng Xixian as Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee, removing him from his position as Director of the State Council Planning Commission. Li Xiannian assumed the role. Deng Xixian's transfer to the position of Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee was intended to prepare for the upcoming Ninth National Congress.

In addition to Wei Hongjun, the first secretary, there are six other secretaries in the Secretariat.

They are Deng Xixian, Secretary-General of the Central Committee, Chen Tanqiu, Minister of Organization, Xi Zhongxun, Minister of Propaganda, Dong Biwu, Secretary of the Supervisory Commission, Li Weihan, Minister of the United Front Work Department, and Tan Zheng, Director of the General Political Department.

Plus three alternate secretaries of the Secretariat.

They are Wang Jiaxiang, Minister of the International Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee, Yang Shangkun, Deputy Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office, and Cai Chang, Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Women's Association.

Compared with the previous secretaries and alternate secretaries of the Secretariat, the newly elected secretaries and alternate secretaries have a much lower rank. However, compared with the previous ones, the newly elected secretaries and alternate secretaries have a very clear division of labor.

Once the division of labor is clear, the Secretary or Alternate Secretary will handle the work that falls under their jurisdiction. For general daily work, the Secretary or Alternate Secretary in charge can issue instructions. Important documents will be discussed at Secretariat meetings. Even for documents destined for the Politburo, the Secretariat can first come up with a plan and then submit it to the Politburo Standing Committee.

This will greatly improve work efficiency.

There's no need to constantly convene expanded meetings of the Secretariat or the Politburo. Furthermore, because the Secretariat secretaries and alternate secretaries have their own divisions of labor, this prevents the First Secretary from having absolute control over the Secretariat.

Except for Tan Zheng, all of these people were from Party committees directly under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee. Tan Zheng was elected as Secretary of the Secretariat in order to strengthen the relationship between the Secretariat and the military.

After all, the Secretariat is where the Party Central Committee handles daily work.

The Secretariat approves many of the CMC's work reports, aside from important ones that require discussion with the Politburo. Even documents requiring the Politburo's approval are passed through the Secretariat to the Politburo for review.