Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

At the same time, the list of the Eastern European delegation was also finalized. Khrushchev was indeed somewhat displeased that the CCP did not even have a Politburo member among the cadres sent. However, upon hearing Zhou Bin's name, Khrushchev's expression improved somewhat. This was because Khrushchev knew that Zhou Bin was the Chairman's younger brother and the Vice Premier of the State Council of China, a very special position.

Finally, we agreed with the opinions of the Chinese Communist Party delegation.

Meanwhile, the situation in Hungary continued to deteriorate.

On October 10, having only been President of the Council of Ministers for a few days, Nagy saw no way to control the situation and announced the abolition of the one-party system and the establishment of a multi-party government. That same day, rioters stormed the Budapest City Party Building, and the Party Secretary was beaten to death. On November 30, Nagy appealed to the United Nations for help. He wrote to the Secretary-General, declaring Hungary's neutrality and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, and requesting UN intervention in Hungary.

By this time, the Soviet Union had already contacted some cadres of the Hungarian Communist Party Central Committee. On November 11, the Hungarian Communist Party split. Kádár, who had just replaced Gro as First Secretary, broke with Nagy and formed the Socialist Workers' Party. The Working People's Party was dissolved.

He then requested the Soviet Union to send troops to help Hungary restore domestic order.

On November 11, after discussion, the Presidium of the CPSU formally accepted Kadar's invitation to send troops to Hungary. At the same time, a Sino-Soviet delegation was dispatched to Warsaw to meet with leaders of Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria.

One is to explain the issue of the Soviet Union's military deployment, and the other is to express the Soviet Communist Party's determination to change the relationship between the "brother parties."

On November 11, under the protection of the Soviet army, Kádár established the "Hungarian Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Government" in the Soviet Union. In the early morning of November 3, Hungarian radio broadcast a statement from the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Government, stating that the government's program was to defend national independence and restore law and order.

At this time, Wei Hongjun, Deng Xixian and other members of the Chinese delegation had completed their mission and returned to China.

999 Responding to National Changes

After Wei Hongjun, Deng Xixian, and Wang Jiaxiang returned, they reported the details of their experience in the Soviet Union to the Politburo.

This is a necessary procedure.

Not only did he have to give an oral report to the Politburo, but he also had to write down a detailed report of his itinerary in the Soviet Union and submit it.

After finishing his report, Wei Hongjun said, "The problems in Eastern Europe are the result of a multifaceted conflict. There are political and economic factors at play, and internal and external conflicts are concentrated together."

"Comrade Hongjun, there is one phenomenon in the current problems in Eastern Europe that cannot be ignored."

Dong Biwu spoke.

"Look at Poland first. People inside and outside the Party are demanding changes to the economic system. And in Hungary, so many people from all over the country are participating in the riots. This shows that the conflicts in these countries have been accumulating for a long time and are very widespread. Otherwise, it would be impossible for such a major event to happen simply because of a 'secret report' or the poor control of the Eastern European Communist Party."

"Yes."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Then he said, "Eastern European countries are small, and they are completely different from my country and the Soviet Union. We and the Soviet Union were able to develop heavy industry on a large scale and achieve 'high accumulation' in the early stages of development, but these small countries cannot. They have limited populations and markets, and they imitated the Soviet Union's 'high accumulation' and developed heavy industry. As a result, agriculture and light industry suffered a huge blow. Not only are there shortages of food, but also serious shortages of daily necessities."

"Eastern European countries have invested so much money in heavy industry that the living standards of the people in Eastern Europe have not only not improved much in recent years, but have stagnated. In some Eastern European countries, the living standards are even declining. This is despite the fact that Eastern European countries trade with my country and my country exports so many daily necessities to Eastern European countries. Therefore, economic problems have exacerbated political problems. The sudden appearance of the 'secret report' has caused these contradictions to erupt."

Comrade Xiuyang said, "Comrade Hongjun is right. If the people's living standards cannot be improved, the advantages of socialism cannot be realized, and people's discontent will accumulate. Economic problems will lead to many social problems, and ultimately to political problems."

"I also think we should always pay attention to the living standards of the people."

Chen Yun spoke.

After the problems in Eastern Europe, many CCP cadres had new ideas about socialist development. Historically, after the 20th Congress of the CPSU, the "Secret Report," and the Polish-Hungarian Incident, the CCP Central Committee also considered the problems from an economic perspective.

It is believed that the Soviet-style economic system of developing heavy industry through "high accumulation" is problematic.

But more importantly, new problems come to mind.

The Hungarian problem, in particular, is no longer a simple question of reform, but rather one of revolution and counter-revolution. The grave situation in Hungary, coupled with the direct calls by many in the Hungarian Party Central Committee for a change in the socialist path, is something many people hadn't anticipated. Such demands are perfectly normal for a civil society organization. However, when the Hungarian Party Central Committee and many members are demanding a shift away from socialism, the problem becomes far more serious.

Therefore, historically, the Hungarian incident had a huge impact on the central government.

Under this sudden shock, the central government began to reflect and started to talk about "revisionism".

Initially a mere concept, it later became a crucial issue concerning policy direction. In the 1950s and 1960s, Chairman Mao worried about a similar situation to Hungary in China. Later, as disagreements arose within the Central Committee regarding the path for national development, coupled with domestic problems, Chairman Mao's concerns about "revisionism" in China intensified. It can be said that many subsequent events, from the Anti-Rightist Movement to the Cultural Revolution, can be traced back to the 20th Congress of the CPSU and the Polish-Hungarian Incident.

However, Wei Hongjun's previous report on Eastern Europe had already provided numerous explanations for "revisionism." Eastern European communist organizations themselves were a hodgepodge, with the majority of members not committed to Marxism-Leninism. The number of members of Eastern European communist parties expanded rapidly after World War II, not by one, two, three, or four times, but by dozens or even tens of times. A disparate group, seeking legitimate access to the new governments, joined the communist organizations of various Eastern European countries.

Therefore, the emergence of "revisionism" is inevitable.

Because they did not want to take the socialist road in the first place. It was just that the Eastern European Communist Party established a new government with the support of the Soviet Red Army, so they joined the new government.

The CCP is much better in this regard.

Even if the number of party members swelled during the war, many were not Marxist-Leninists. However, the CCP's discipline was forged through the years of war. This is simply not comparable to that of Eastern European countries.

Therefore, as long as the CCP’s central government remains stable, it will be difficult for the kind of “revisionism” seen in Eastern Europe to emerge.

Furthermore, the democratic figures who are likely to develop "revisionist" ideas in China are all non-Party members. Since the retirement system was established, as long as 1957 is successfully passed, the main force of these democratic figures will retire and leave government institutions, and their influence will decline rapidly. Therefore, at this meeting, everyone focused more on the economic root causes.

"I suggest adjusting the national wage structure. Five years have passed since the wage plan was established in 1952. During these five years, my country's economy has developed well, and fiscal revenue has increased rapidly. Furthermore, many new products have emerged on the market. I believe it is necessary to increase wages. Adjusting wages every five years will also improve people's living standards."

Chen Yun made a suggestion.

Deng Zhihui saw Chen Yun discussing wages and immediately said, "I think wages can be raised, but the price of grain under the unified purchase and sale system should also be raised. Currently, the purchase price of wheat is 11.8 yuan per 13 catties, while the unified sale price is 1.2 yuan per catties, with a price difference of yuan per catties. If wages are raised, the price of grain under the unified purchase and sale system should be raised by two or three yuan accordingly. This way, a portion of the state's wage increases will flow into the countryside through the unified purchase and sale of grain, increasing the incomes of both urban workers and rural farmers."

At present, agricultural income is still the bulk of rural income.

Therefore, raising the purchase price of grain can generate significant income for rural areas. If the price of 100 kilograms of grain increases by 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, then if a cooperative sells 1 million kilograms of grain, its income will increase by 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. This money can be used to purchase dozens of cattle for the cooperative's needs.

According to the Soviet model, that is "high accumulation".

The country used this accumulated wealth to develop heavy industry. However, after the events in Eastern Europe, everyone realized that high accumulation alone was not enough. A portion of this high accumulation must be allocated to improving the lives of the people in order to maintain social stability.

"I support salary adjustments. But I think there should be some differentiation. There's no need to adjust the salaries of officials above Administrative Level 200. The salary gap is too large. Officials above Administrative Level earn a little over yuan a month, which is enough for their families. Since the purpose of salary adjustments is to improve people's living standards, adjustments should be made to those with lower salaries so that everyone's salaries are closer together."

Mr. Peng spoke.

Mr. Peng has always been dissatisfied with the large wage gap.

When military pay levels were first being established, General Peng had already been furious, arguing that senior military officers' salaries were too high while the salaries and allowances of ordinary officers and soldiers were too low. However, both the 1952 rank awards and salary levels still carried a certain "merit-based reward" connotation, so General Peng was unable to change them. Now that Chen Yun had proposed a salary adjustment, General Peng directly expressed his views.

Administrative level ten is roughly the same treatment as military-level cadres in the military.

The salary is very high.

Increasing their wages would only create a privileged class.

Wei Hongjun had long considered adjusting wages, and he thought it was a good opportunity to take advantage of the current Eastern European crisis to adjust wages and improve the income level of the people across the country.

Through the unified purchase and sale system, part of the funds from the wage increase will flow into the countryside. This will increase the income of ordinary people in urban and rural areas and stimulate the market.

However, the only person who immediately and clearly stated that salaries for officials above administrative level 10 should not be adjusted was General Peng. His personality allowed him to speak out both what he could and couldn't say.

It can be said that this sentence offends many people.

Those above Administrative Level 10 are considered senior cadres within the Party, government, and military systems. Who says these senior cadres don't care about their salaries? Previously, to take over some European industry, senior cadres' salaries had already been reduced. Would they be unhappy if they weren't included in this raise?

Whoever makes such a suggestion at that time will be blamed.

However, the Party does need cadres like General Peng. Just like the military's previous disarmament, that was a very offensive thing. Aside from those former Nationalist troops who revolted, surrendered, or were reorganized, most PLA units have a history.

Even if the troops were given numbers later, they still have a history.

The origins can be found in blood relationship.

How can you not complain when you cut down these troops?

However, only someone with General Peng's status, character, and fearlessness of offending others can do this kind of thing.

"I agree with Lao Peng's opinion."

The Chairman began, "Our senior cadres' salaries are already quite high. If we raise them further, what will become of us? Eight years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the national economy improving, the people's living standards should also rise. I think we can adjust the salaries and the prices of grain under the unified purchase and sale system simultaneously. Of course, the salary adjustments shouldn't be too large; we can adjust them every few years. What are the opinions of other comrades?"

"Agree."

"I agree too."

Everyone nodded.

Everyone is happy about the salary adjustment, and it will also help us cope with the impact of the Eastern European problems.

Seeing everyone agreed, the Chairman continued, "Specific wage reforms will still require careful consideration. I propose that Comrade Wu Hao take full responsibility for this matter. Comrades Chen Yun, Deng Zhihui, and Li Xiannian will jointly oversee wage adjustments in government and other institutions, as well as adjustments to the prices of grain purchased and sold in rural areas. We must fully consider the implications of these adjustments for currency and prices. Regarding the military, I'll leave it to Old Peng. What are your opinions, comrades?"

"agree."

"Agree."

After discussing the Soviet Union and Eastern European issues, we began to discuss another major issue.

That was the Battle of Suez.

In June 1956, Nasser was elected Egypt's second president and concurrently served as prime minister. Subsequently, on July 6, 1956, Nasser publicly announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal and demanded that Britain and France withdraw from the Suez Canal.

Of course Britain and France could not accept this.

The Middle East is the traditional sphere of influence of Britain and France, and it is also the last base for Britain and France to maintain their status and face.

So Britain, France, and Israel joined forces. On October 10, the Israeli army launched a war, invading the Sinai Peninsula. On October 29, Britain and France jointly issued an ultimatum to Egypt and Israel, demanding a ceasefire and sending troops to the Suez Canal to "protect shipping."

Nasser rejected the demands of Britain and France, and the British and French coalition subsequently dispatched more than 7 ships, including 100 aircraft carriers, and more than 200 aircraft to bomb key Egyptian cities, ports, and military bases.

The Battle of the Suez Canal broke out completely.

The outbreak of the Battle of the Suez Canal was a great thing for the Soviet Union and the socialist camp.

Although the Soviet army had received an invitation from the Hungarian Party Central Committee to send troops, after all, the killing and wounding of so many people would not sound good. For the United States, this was something worth making a big fuss about.

As a result, problems arose within the imperialist camp itself.

The Soviet Union at least had a name for itself, while Britain and France were directly attacking Egypt, a sovereign state. Therefore, the outbreak of the Battle of the Suez Canal actually gave the Soviet Union a sense of relief.

However, this war was too far from China, and with the recent events in Eastern Europe, the central government paid relatively little attention to it. But it was a major event, so the Politburo still discussed it.

Wei Hongjun put down his pen and said, "Comrades, I believe that two contradictions will play a major role in this battle of the Suez Canal. One is the contradiction between the old colonial imperialism and the newly rising great powers, and the other is the contradiction between the socialist camp and the imperialist camp."

"Let's first discuss the conflict between established colonial imperialism and the newly rising powers, primarily Britain and France on the one hand, and the United States and the Soviet Union on the other. Britain and France, as the world's dominant powers during the colonial era, saw their power drastically reduced during World War II, and were no longer able to maintain their dominant position. However, they were unwilling to withdraw from the historical stage and cede their hegemony to the United States and the Soviet Union. Therefore, they have maintained a tight grip on the Middle East and North Africa, refusing entry to the United States and the Soviet Union, hoping to maintain their position. However, the two newly rising powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, could not allow Britain and France to maintain their former dominance. The Battle of the Suez Canal was an effort by Britain and France to maintain their former dominance."

"So, in this Battle of the Suez Canal, the US and the Soviet Union will certainly tacitly oppose Britain and France's control of the Suez Canal. Judging from the current situation, the US and the Soviet Union are extremely powerful, while Britain and France have already declined. Therefore, this war is not a battle between Britain and France and Egypt, but a war between Britain and France and the US and the Soviet Union. The final result will definitely be the defeat of Britain and France and the victory of the US and the Soviet Union. Britain and France will never have the chance to regain the glory of the colonial era."

Everyone listened very carefully.

Because Wei Hongjun has always been very accurate in his judgment of the international situation.

Behind every accurate judgment lies China's exceptional preparation. In every shift, China has been able to make decisions that benefit China. Wei Hongjun's current assessment is that Britain and France will inevitably be the losers in the Battle of the Suez Canal.

This is completely different from the current trend.

Because the British and French troops had defeated the Egyptian army step by step and it was no match for the British and French at all.

"Another issue is the conflict between the socialist camp and the imperialist camp. The US and the Soviet Union will tacitly attack Britain and France and will not allow them to win the Suez Canal. However, as the main forces in the Cold War, neither of them wants the other to win. So, while both sides will jointly attack Britain and France, they will also be wary of each other. The Middle East is the traditional sphere of influence of Britain and France, but after the Suez Canal War, it will inevitably fall into the hands of the US and the Soviet Union. The entry of US and Soviet forces into the Middle East will make future problems in the Middle East more complicated and lead to constant conflict."

"Of course, the most important countries are Britain and France. If they lose this war, or withdraw from Egypt under pressure from the US and the Soviet Union, Britain and France will completely lose their former status and glory. From now on, they can only follow the United States. But as former world hegemons, Britain and France will definitely not be completely resigned to this."

"I believe this presents a great opportunity for our diplomacy. After Britain and France's defeat in this war, negative sentiment is bound to spread domestically. They also need some diplomatic breakthroughs to escape this situation. Improving diplomatic relations with our country, or even establishing diplomatic relations, would be a good thing for both Britain and France. We should seize this opportunity."

In recent years, the relations between China, Britain and France have been good.

Representative offices were also established between them.

But neither side was able to move forward. Although both sides were interested in strengthening relations, there were still many areas where they could not reach consensus. Another reason was fear of the United States. But now an opportunity has emerged. The Battle of the Suez Canal had dealt a heavy blow to Britain and France.