Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"Questions about retirement policy?"

This question is a bit more complicated.

Because it makes sense. For example, Chen Tanqiu, also the head of a ministry, will also turn 61 next year. But no one thinks he'll retire next year. This is because Chen Tanqiu is an alternate member of the Politburo and head of the Organization Department, making him the most likely candidate for the Politburo at the Ninth National Congress.

As long as you become a member of the Politburo, you will not retire at the age of 60.

So, overall, the retirement system does favor CCP cadres over those from democratic parties and those without party affiliation. But frankly, senior CCP cadres risked their lives to participate in the revolution and are credited with the founding of New China. While the CCP criticizes this "meritorious thinking," it's a real, objective reality.

Can you, a cadre of a democratic party, be compared with cadres like Chen Tanqiu who participated in the founding of the Communist Party and followed the Communist Party’s revolution for thirty years?

Wei Hongjun was blunt: "Our retirement policy isn't perfect, especially when it comes to transition years. Many cadres who have reached retirement age won't be able to officially retire until after next year's Ninth National Congress and the Second National People's Congress. Logically, they should be retiring this year and shouldn't be formal delegates to the Ninth National Congress or the Second National People's Congress. If they retire next year, their delegate status will be revoked, and suddenly there's a lot more useless work."

"But let's not talk about that for now. After next year's Ninth National Congress and the Second National People's Congress, the number of cadres due to retire will increase significantly. However, compared to members of our Party, the proportion of those from democratic parties and those without party affiliation who will retire is higher. Because senior officials like Shen Junru and Chen Shutong are already eighty, Cheng Qian will be seventy-five next year, and Li Jisen will be seventy-two."

"Further down the line, including those attending this symposium, are some cadres. Luo Longji and Zhang Bojun will both be 61 or 62 next year, reaching retirement age. At the local level, there are even more people like them, including those from democratic parties and those without party affiliation."

"Now the retirement system issue is suddenly being raised. 'Party rule' is just an excuse. The main purpose is to extend the retirement age."

The retirement system has an impact on the Communist Party of China, but the impact is actually not that great.

The problem with the CCP now is that it has too many high-ranking cadres.

Precisely because higher-ups refused to step down, many officials throughout New China's history remained at the same level for over ten or twenty years. In some provinces, unless there were political problems, governors could even serve for over a decade. The worst situation was in the military. Some were company commanders in their twenties and even in their forties.

Because too many young cadres emerged during the war years.

They've long held their positions, refusing to move. Of course, it's not because they don't want to, but because the central leadership won't budge, they can't. Positions become scarcer as you move up the ladder, and if the cadres above don't retire, how can the cadres below move up? Therefore, the current retirement system is a very good thing for the overall mobility of CCP cadres.

If one person retires, there will be a lot of cadres to be adjusted across the country.

But democratic parties are different from non-partisans.

Their numbers are limited. They rely on prominent democratic figures from the Republican era to sustain themselves. For example, the influential and powerful Democratic League, for example, has many prominent figures from the Republican era.

But one big problem they have is that these people are all quite old.

By the time of the Eighth National Congress and the First National People's Congress, he was already very old and had reached retirement age.

It's just that the retirement system had just been passed at the time, so it hadn't really affected them yet. But now it's different. At the Eighth National Congress, some cadres had already begun retiring. At the Ninth National Congress, some more cadres will retire.

But if the democratic parties and independents also retire at the Second National People's Congress, like the CCP, the strength of many parties will suddenly drop by half. Important figures from the Democratic League, including its leaders, are basically among those retiring this time.

If they retire, these democratic parties will actually have no successors.

They were almost ready to resign themselves to their fate. The CCP is now even more powerful than it was at the founding of the People's Republic of China. Its position in the hearts and minds of the people is even more secure. In contrast, the influence of the democratic parties is rapidly declining.

What can they do?

But who knew the Soviet Union would soon face its own problems? Khrushchev's "Secret Report" was a groundbreaking event, and the democratic parties in China were overjoyed. They had originally intended to expand the social influence of the "Secret Report," but it was clear that the Chinese Communist Party had already prepared for it.

It's no use at all.

Despite widespread dissemination in universities, many students paid little attention to what was happening thousands of miles away in Moscow. They treated the "secret report" as if it were someone else's story. This demonstrates the extent of the CCP's influence in China in recent years.

With the Chinese revolution having its own leader, Stalin's influence in China was greatly reduced.

So they chose to launch their attack at the United Front Work Department symposium using a "secret report." The Secretariat meeting was a true intra-Party meeting, so Wei Hongjun expressed his views directly.

They all came from the war years.

Some things don't require beating around the bush.

Historically, when major events occurred in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, especially after the Polish-Hungarian Incident, some people even directly stated that the world situation had changed and the CCP was beginning to be "lost." This was the time to intensify the offensive.

As long as the offensive is intensified, the CCP will have no choice but to make continuous concessions.

The attitude is very arrogant.

Although China is generally stable now, under the propaganda of European and American imperialism, the situation in Eastern Europe is constantly being transmitted to China. The "Poznan Incident" is just the beginning.

The situation in Eastern Europe as a whole is not good right now.

Various groups emerged, and they began publicly campaigning to demand change from Eastern European governments. This was a great encouragement to many in China. Their thinking was simple: with a powerful weapon like the "secret report," the CCP would surely yield.

"That won't work. Now that the regulations are in place, people should retire when they're supposed to. No matter what the reason, if we give in to pressure, our retirement policy will fail completely. It will be extremely difficult to resume it later."

Organization Department Minister Chen Tanqiu spoke.

There are still some imperfections in the retirement policy, which can be corrected and improved, but we cannot cross his bottom line.

Dong Biwu nodded in agreement and said, "Comrade Chen Tanqiu is right. Since they have been talking about 'secret reports', then they should know better. In order to avoid the same kind of thing as the Soviet Communist Party, it is even more necessary to establish an orderly retirement system. After the retirement system is established, it is even more necessary to abide by the regulations. Some comrades should know that I have already written a retirement report to the Central Committee."

Dong Biwu will be seventy-one years old next year.

Dong Biwu was a member of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China and one of its founders. Furthermore, he was a member of the Politburo at the Seventh National Congress, possessing high Party seniority, rank, and status. While the "Five Old Men of Yan'an" are mentioned together, Dong Biwu and Lin Boqu hold significantly higher ranks than the other three.

So unlike ordinary cadres, Dong Biwu submitted a report to the central government before retiring.

So he would not tolerate others undermining the system.

Wei Hongjun first allowed everyone to fully discuss the issue. After everyone had expressed their opinions, Wei Hongjun said, "Then regarding these issues, our Secretariat will come up with a plan and submit it to the Political Bureau Standing Committee for discussion."

992 Commander-in-Chief's Choice

After the Secretariat meeting, Wei Hongjun handed the Secretariat meeting report to the Standing Committee.

Normally, the Secretariat would handle this matter. But now, as it involves a "secret report," the Central Committee is taking it very seriously. Therefore, the Chairman convened a meeting of the Political Bureau Standing Committee.

Compared to Politburo meetings, the Politburo Standing Committee holds far more meetings. Most issues are discussed and handled at the Standing Committee meetings, meaning the Politburo Standing Committee resolves them.

Because holding a Politburo meeting would cause too much noise. Firstly, Politburo members can't be in Beijing all the time, and secondly, Politburo members are all busy. Frequent Politburo meetings would disrupt everyone's work.

The Chairman looked at the reports from the United Front Work Department and the Secretariat and said with a smile, "It's good for them to vent their complaints; they can spur us on. Many of the issues they raise are indeed mistakes we made in our work."

"The four sentences Zhang Xiruo said make a lot of sense."

The Chairperson pointed out the point made by one of the individuals.

This is Zhang Xiruo, the former Minister of Education. Zhang Xiruo was a nonpartisan figure, but he held considerable influence in the education and cultural circles. He did a lot of work during his tenure as Minister of Education.

This includes improving the curriculum and school system, promoting Mandarin, formulating a "Code of Conduct for Primary School Students", etc.

Zhang Xiruo made significant contributions to the early educational development of the People's Republic of China, particularly in the curriculum and school system for primary and secondary schools. He is also currently the strongest central government official supporting the promotion of Mandarin.

Zhang Xiruo's criticism of recent problems in the work of the Party and government was actually a criticism of the government's "over-advancement" in 1955. He summarized it in four sentences, which became known as "ambition, eagerness for quick success and instant benefits, contempt for the past, and superstition about the future."

Many cadres in the party were angry about Zhang Xiruo's words, but the Chairman was not angry.

"But what he said is incomplete. It's not good to be ambitious, but isn't it good for us revolutionaries to be ambitious based on actual conditions? Look at our steel production. From less than 1947 tons in 10 to over 1955 million tons in 900, what's wrong with this kind of ambition? New China has achieved its current success because our people dared to be ambitious. I prefer the term 'ambitious,' but our work should be more practical."

"As for the claim that we despise the past, that's true. Over thirty years passed between the founding of the Republic of China and the founding of New China, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek spent over twenty years on it, leaving us with only 40,000 tons of steel. If we didn't despise the past and didn't have superstitious faith in the future, what hope would we have? We would have long ago embraced those 40,000 tons of steel and wept over the Great Wall. The mess that Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek left us shouldn't make us despise the past. History is important, and we must inherit it. But it can't become a burden on our progress."

"However, Zhang Xiruo is a good man, and the issues he raises are indeed real. We must listen carefully to these opinions and promptly improve our work. Last year, Comrade Wei Hongjun and the comrades in the Rural Work Department discovered the phenomenon of 'over-advancement' in rural areas, so they consolidated and adjusted rural work. Now it seems that the industrial sector also has these problems, which require consolidation and adjustment. We cannot allow comrades to rush for quick success and instant benefits."

"Although Zhang Xiruo advocates the importance of history, he's not a pedantic person. At a previous symposium on the development and protection of historical relics, he argued that cultural relics are important, but not as important as development. He's speaking objectively, unlike Chen Mingshu, who mocks us."

What Zhang Xiruo said was also full of irony.

But the Chairman had a good impression of him and thought he was a good person.

After Zhang Xiruo joined the construction of New China, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the education of New China. Unlike those democratic figures, he never met with them, talked about things, or thought about his own official position.

He usually works, goes home, and occasionally interacts with Chen Shutong.

That's it.

Other democrats have their own small circles. When these small circles grow, they become democratic parties. They often gather together to discuss their political ideals, criticize CCP policies, and discuss how to form a coalition government.

But Zhang Xiruo himself is not a member of any democratic party, he is a completely non-partisan person.

Moreover, his criticism of the Central Committee, and even that of the Chairman, was not the first time. He had been outspoken since the first Political Consultative Conference. But the Chairman was always tolerant of him, because his criticisms came from the heart, were motivated by work, and had no political agenda.

In contrast, Chen Mingshu's statement of "loving ostentation, partial to partiality, disdain for classics, and mood swings" seemed roughly the same as Zhang Xiruo's, but the Chairman disliked it greatly. This was because his speech at the symposium clearly had political motives.

Therefore, the Chairman has completely two different attitudes towards Zhang Xiruo and Chen Mingshu.

The chairman seemed very interested.

After discussing Zhang Xiruo and Chen Mingshu, he continued, "There are also problems with these people in the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. Lu Yuwen is a very good comrade. Comrade Chen Yun, how is his work ability?"

"He has both theoretical knowledge and practical experience. Being just the Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council is a bit of a waste."

Lu Yuwen earned a master's degree in economics from the London School of Economics in the 1942s. After returning to China, he worked as a teacher and professor at various universities. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he began working in government agencies. He subsequently served as Chief Secretary of the Nationalist Government's Military Commission's Mining and Mining Adjustment Office, Chief Secretary of the National Grain Administration Committee, and Director of the Henan Provincial Government's Grain Administration Bureau in 1944. In early , he became Director of the Supplies Department of the National General Mobilization Committee. Throughout his tenure, he was responsible for the Nationalist government's logistics.

In these positions, Lu Yuwen transformed from a scholar to a government official, honing his skills within the chaotic logistics system of the Nationalist government. When the Kuomintang wanted to negotiate with the Communist Party of China, Lu Yuwen was one of the representatives sent.

Later, Lu Yuwen stayed in Beijing.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he first served as a counselor to the State Council and later as Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council. Because of his academic background, he always followed Chen Yun, who had a very good impression of him.

"Yes, that's him. He made a few comments on behalf of our Party at this forum, but to my surprise, someone from the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang directly criticized him as 'a shameless accomplice to a tiger.' Look at what they're comparing our Party to. They're calling us 'tigers.' We were indeed as fierce as tigers when fighting imperialism and its running dogs. But for the Chinese people, the Communist Party of China is their best friend."

"Lu Yuwen was criticized so harshly for merely speaking a few fair words for our party. This criticism is a form of intimidation, designed to intimidate people close to our party and prevent them from continuing to interact with us. It also demonstrates that their motives at this symposium were not pure."

The chairman sounded somewhat helpless.

What did Lu Yuwen say? Essentially, he simply explained the nature of CCP meetings. Some within the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) have criticized the CCP meetings as "formalistic," unlike the "parliamentary meetings" of European and American countries.

However, Lu Yuwen disagreed with this.

Lu Yuwen argues that parliaments in bourgeois countries bicker daily, debate without deciding, delaying many issues that need to be resolved, and leading to low meeting efficiency. This is "formalism" in the name of procedure, which is completely inconsistent with China's situation.

Meetings within the Communist Party of China, including those of administrative departments like the State Council, require advance notice of the agenda, allowing everyone to prepare speeches and documents. When discussing these issues in meetings, avoid wasting time and get straight to the point. This results in faster decision-making and less idle chatter. However, just because meetings are efficient and there's not much talk doesn't mean they're formalistic and lack discussion.

However, Lu Yuwen's explanation for this statement on behalf of the CCP immediately infuriated some people. They accused Lu Yuwen of fawning over the CCP for promotion and wealth, saying he was already serving as Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council and still wasn't satisfied, wanting to climb higher. He was essentially an accomplice to the enemy, a shameless person as Mr. Tan Tiwu called him.

At that time, those who scolded him were mainly from the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang.

Lu Yuwen is not the kind of person who dares to speak and scold like Zhang Xiruo. He is a scholar-type cadre, so he just stormed out in anger.

Everyone nodded as they listened to the chairman's words.

The political purpose is too obvious.

However, even though such a big thing happened, no one was too surprised.

Because as early as when Khrushchev's "Secret Report" was passed to China, the central government had already considered this issue. Before that, the central government was most worried about the impact on social stability. As for these people suddenly rebelling, it was not a serious matter.

After the Chairman commented on some of the remarks made at the forum, he said, "Comrades of the Red Army, what are the opinions of your Secretariat?"

"The Secretariat believes that many of their suggestions are reasonable and do point out some mistakes in our work. However, their suggestions are full of problems and are too politically motivated. Therefore, the Secretariat believes that we should improve our work on some issues, but we cannot be led by them."

"What the Red Army comrades said makes sense."

The chairman nodded.

You should listen to the opinions that should be heard, but you don’t necessarily have to listen to the prescriptions.