Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

After taking a look around, de Gaulle discussed the situation with his staff. He then bluntly stated that the trucks to be produced by China's Second Automobile Works were not as good as those produced by France. Among those accompanying France were officials specializing in economic negotiations with China.

Someone immediately contacted the Chinese side and said that if China agreed, France would be very willing to transfer several truck technologies. France was also willing to act as an intermediary to help China purchase the necessary machinery and equipment from European countries to help China build a car factory.

France even expressed its willingness to provide China with a loan to build an automobile factory. Charles de Gaulle was now focused on developing both finance and industrial production. China was the largest country with the largest population and market that France could currently reach.

People on both the Chinese side and de Gaulle's side immediately made a simple calculation.

After the end of World War II, the French government nationalized many automobile companies. Charles de Gaulle's proposal was for the French state-owned company, Berliet Automobiles, to transfer to China the technology for several basic truck models and three types of engines. Preliminary calculations suggest the technology transfer amounted to between $7 million and $8 million.

Then, they would help China build a car factory with an annual production capacity of more than 2000 trucks, which would cost about $1100 million and involve the import of various machinery and equipment. Of course, this would also include a commission for France.

The total cost is approximately $2000 million.

Of course, if China wants to build a large heavy-duty vehicle plant with an annual production capacity of more than 5000 trucks, the funds required will double. France is not only willing to provide China with a loan, but also willing to send technical personnel to help China build the vehicle plant.

What China lacks most at the moment?

It's a truck.

Trucks are now gradually becoming the most important industrial product among China's imported materials, costing China a large amount of foreign exchange every year.

Of course, the joint establishment of a Sino-French automobile factory would not happen overnight. At the very least, it would take until Charles de Gaulle returned to power before deeper engagement could take place. However, both China and France were very interested in this project.

In addition to the truck project, France also said it could help China build an engineering machinery manufacturing plant.

Same with the truck project.

French companies transferred their technology to China, helped China purchase machinery and equipment, sent personnel to install the equipment, and helped China establish construction machinery manufacturing plants, allowing China to manufacture its own construction machinery.

In fact, most countries in the world cannot produce engineering machinery even if France transfers the manufacturing technology of these engineering machinery, because they simply do not have such technical capabilities and material supply capabilities.

But China can solve these problems.

The reason why Charles de Gaulle believed that China had the ability to manufacture its own construction machinery.

Charles de Gaulle visited Shougang in Beijing, Tangshan, Handan, and Wuhan. Many of these steel mills were Soviet-aided projects, relying on Soviet technology, and therefore possessed considerable technical expertise. These mills produced more than just pig iron and crude steel; each possessed unique capabilities.

Although de Gaulle himself wasn't entirely clear, his team included industrial talent. After visiting the steel mills, they clearly told de Gaulle that while China's steel casting and rolling technology wasn't as advanced as that of European countries, it had a very solid foundation. China's current technology was fully capable of producing the specialized steels needed for construction machinery.

Of course, if China cannot conquer it on its own, France can also help.

As long as you have money, these are not a problem.

France's current economic difficulties stem from insufficient market demand, resulting in underutilization of many French businesses. Therefore, Charles de Gaulle's only priority is to quickly develop new markets and reopen French factories. Once factories are operational, they will drive the development of upstream and downstream industries. When workers have money, they can boost domestic demand.

Therefore, de Gaulle did not care much about some machinery and equipment.

As for the US demand for European unity against the socialist bloc and a technological blockade against China, Charles de Gaulle paid no heed. Even for sensitive technologies, he could transfer them if China paid. For Charles de Gaulle now, no technology was secret. China's inability to obtain it simply meant it lacked sufficient leverage.

Because it involved the transfer of technology from automobile factories, engineering machinery manufacturers, and other machinery manufacturing plants, Wei Hongjun called the central government and asked Li Xiannian to fly to Hunan with a team.

Participate in some new negotiations with the Charles de Gaulle team.

These are all good things.

However, China must consider its own financial situation and how to obtain loans from European countries to ensure financial affordability. Furthermore, once these French factories are introduced, coordination among various parties will be required.

These are not things that can be resolved in one or two meetings.

In this way, Wei Hongjun and de Gaulle stayed in Hunan for nearly eight days.

Left Hunan and entered Guangdong.

This is where the real fun happens.

Whether in the city or in the countryside, everything is bustling with activity. Construction crews are everywhere, working on highway construction projects in both large and small cities, and even in the countryside, there are large numbers of construction crews building new houses.

As a result, many cooperatives in Guangdong have opened brick factories.

New houses in small and medium-sized cities and rural areas are all made of brick. This is because although China's steel production is high, it is not enough. The country cannot invest too much steel in construction projects in Guangdong.

So we can only build brick houses in large numbers.

Then came various transport teams, with batches of supplies waiting to cross the border and enter Hong Kong.

Charles de Gaulle, in the Bao'an District, watched with envy the numerous transport convoys passing through Hong Kong's border crossing. The damned British had quietly established such extensive and deep economic cooperation with China. Looking at the streams of goods flowing into Hong Kong, there must be a large number of British businessmen behind them.

De Gaulle carefully learned what these goods were.

Aside from some agricultural and sideline products and mineral products exported from China, the majority of products are processed from imported materials. We produce a wide range of daily necessities, from hats and shoes to children's toys and coffins for the elderly. These are now exported worldwide in batches from Hong Kong.

Britain has declined, but its influence remains.

The Commonwealth, former and current British colonies, and some countries that Britain could influence, saw large quantities of daily necessities flow into these markets. This was an advantage for British merchants.

Since the introduction of processing trade with China, British businesspeople have registered over ten thousand new companies in Hong Kong. Many are shell companies with few employees, solely focused on trade. They do nothing but act as middlemen, receiving, placing, and fulfilling orders, earning their income from commissions. As a result, within just a few years, the number of British and Commonwealth citizens in Hong Kong has increased by approximately 170,000. Most of them work in finance and foreign trade.

But at this stage, we really can't do without them.

Because they controlled the market, without going through them, it was impossible to enter the markets of Britain, the Commonwealth, and British colonies.

This is a British businessman.

Chinese merchants primarily traded in Southeast Asia and, along with British merchants, in Africa. Consequently, the annual volume of orders from Hong Kong to mainland China was staggering. Although Charles de Gaulle was a soldier, he understood the enormous profits involved.

In this process, mainland China, which contributed the most, profited the least. The highest profits went to the middlemen who controlled market access, raw material channels, and transportation channels. Charles de Gaulle was still considering how to suppress the rise of colonial powers. Isn't this a ready-made template?

We can learn from British merchants and flood the colonial market with a large number of low-priced goods to suppress the rise of local merchants. At the same time, we can support some colonial merchants who are willing to follow France and let them monopolize the domestic sales of goods.

Then, by controlling colonial finance, one could completely control the colonial economy. Charles de Gaulle absolutely could not allow the emergence of manufacturing merchants in those colonies, as manufacturing merchants could easily foster nationalism.

After inspecting the processing of supplied materials, de Gaulle applied to visit the bicycle factory established by Sino-British cooperation.

The more I looked at Charles de Gaulle, the more envious I became.

Charles de Gaulle asked Wei Hongjun if French businessmen could be treated the same way as British businessmen. Wei Hongjun affirmed that as long as French businessmen respected Chinese laws and were willing to integrate into the Chinese economic system, China would not reject French businessmen.

"General de Gaulle, I hope this trip to China has left you with a good impression."

"I am very satisfied and happy with my visit to China. It has given me a better understanding of China and made me realize that China and France can only be friends."

"Yes."

Wei Hongjun shook de Gaulle's hand and said, "China and France should and must become friends. If General de Gaulle has time in the future, he can visit China again."

"In the future, when I extend an invitation, I hope your country will also come to visit our France. I will definitely give you a grand reception then."

Charles de Gaulle left China.

On the plane, Charles de Gaulle watched China drift further and further away and said to his people, "If I ever go to the Elysee Palace, the first thing I will do is establish diplomatic relations with the Chinese. No one can stop the rise of Red China. They can only be friends, not enemies."

This trip to China made de Gaulle make up his mind.

Whether from a political, economic, or diplomatic perspective, being on good terms with China would be beneficial for France. So de Gaulle made up his mind to first promote greater Sino-French civil society cooperation, and then, once he emerged from retirement, establish diplomatic relations with China.

After seeing Charles de Gaulle off, Wei Hongjun did not return to Beijing immediately. Instead, he conducted some research in various parts of Guangdong to observe the current growth of enterprises of different ownership structures and then met with some leaders in Guangdong.

Wei Hongjun was now qualified enough to convene meetings of local leaders while he was away. These included: Guangdong Provincial Party Secretary Tao Zhu, Governor Chen Tao, Guangdong Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary and Public Security Department Director Tan Zhengwen, Vice Governor Gu Dacun (in charge of rural affairs, communications, and transportation), Vice Governor Wei Jinfei (in charge of Guangdong's finance and economic affairs), Vice Governor Yin Linping (in charge of Guangdong's industry), Vice Governor Guo Dihuo (in charge of Guangdong's commerce), and Qian Guangyou (member of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Bao'an Prefectural Party Committee).

"Guangdong has been developing very well in recent years. I see that the Bao'an District has become a new city, and construction in other areas is also in full swing. I also see some construction teams from other provinces. How are they communicating?"

Chen Tao immediately said, "Secretary Wei, we've coordinated with surrounding provinces like Guangxi, Hunan, Fujian, and Jiangxi. Currently, with Guangzhou and Bao'an as the center, surrounding cities and rural areas are experiencing large-scale development driven by trade. We need a large amount of housing construction and transportation infrastructure. Our provincial party committee and government believe that relying solely on our own resources is insufficient. Many surrounding rural cooperatives, in particular, operate numerous industrial and commercial side businesses in addition to farming, so they can't afford to deploy large construction teams. Furthermore, we're a socialist country, and the Chairman also acknowledged the need for 'common prosperity.' Since we have construction tasks to accomplish, we can't be the only ones earning the money."

“Well, this idea is correct.”

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Currently, the majority of China's exports to capitalist countries go through Hong Kong. Therefore, Guangdong has benefited the most, with thousands of processing factories of all sizes established.

So there are many requirements for construction.

Just the various factory buildings, staff dormitories, and workers' desire to improve their living conditions as they earn money—as the population grows, cities large, medium, and small—need to expand. Furthermore, establishing a factory, or a factory-based city, requires at least adequate water and electricity. It's fair to say that Guangdong is currently the province with the most active construction in China.

A lot of construction teams are needed.

Guangdong chose to cooperate with surrounding provinces and transferred some construction teams from surrounding provinces to participate in Guangdong's construction.

"You need to make adjustments in this regard."

Wei Hongjun said, "Construction projects must be well planned, and there must be a smooth handover between construction teams from each province. We can't just rush into things at once. We also need to coordinate with the various counties within the province to avoid conflicts due to work-related issues."

"Yes."

"Also, remember this: Guangdong is China's Guangdong, socialist Guangdong. We can't turn a blind eye to certain issues just for the sake of economic development. That's wrong. I know there are many foreign and Chinese businesspeople in Guangdong. They have money, enjoy life, and have other bad habits. We must meet their normal demands and reject any requests that violate our principles. Comrade Tan Zhengwen, your Political and Legal Affairs Commission has a heavy responsibility. Pornography, gambling, and drugs must not be allowed to resurface in Guangdong."

"Secretary Wei, don't worry."

Tan Zhengwen immediately guaranteed it.

Wei Hongjun was about to emphasize the work of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission again when Zhao Han handed him a telegram with the Chairman's name written at the bottom. The Chairman urgently summoned Wei Hongjun back to Beijing. Wei Hongjun whispered to Zhao Han, "What happened?"

Zhao Han leaned over and whispered in Wei Hongjun's ear, "Secretary Wei, I just got the news too. Something big happened at the enlarged meeting of the Military Commission. Comrade Zhang Zhongxun criticized Marshal Liu and the General Directorate of Training for serious dogmatism. General Peng criticized the General Staff as the root cause."

1019 Anti-Dogmatism

The Chairman urgently called for action, so Wei Hongjun had no choice but to stop his research in Guangdong.

Because Wei Hongjun knew that the Chairman would not recall Wei Hongjun just because of the "anti-dogmatism" incident at the enlarged meeting of the Military Commission. After all, the contradiction between dogmatism and anti-dogmatism in the military was not a one-day or two-day thing.

Even if there is a disturbance, it will be an internal military matter.

Under the current circumstances, the central government's control over the army was not a problem. But the reason they were so anxious to send Wei Hongjun back was probably related to the Soviet Union.

The opposition to "dogmatism" is against the Soviet "dogma".

I guess this is more troublesome.

So Wei Hongjun immediately coordinated with the Guangzhou Military Region to board the plane.

After returning to Beijing, Wei Hongjun hurriedly learned what had happened. As Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Wei Hongjun had a division of labor within the Central Military Commission, so he had no problem attending the Central Military Commission meetings.

It’s just that Wei Hongjun avoids suspicion, so he does not participate in the daily work of the Military Commission.

Although Wei Hongjun doesn't normally work at the CMC, as Vice Chairman, he has his own military secretary. Among the current members of the Politburo Standing Committee, only the Chairman, the Premier, and Wei Hongjun have dedicated military secretaries. Whenever Wei Hongjun returns to Beijing, he waits at the airport and reports to him on what's happening within the CMC, ensuring he's fully informed.

After the Ninth National Congress, the Military Commission held an enlarged meeting to adjust some important positions.

It can be regarded as a discussion between the Central Military Commission and the leaders of the major military regions on the next steps.

It was originally a routine enlarged meeting of the Military Commission.

But something big happened after the meeting.

Zhang Zhongxun, Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Commander of the Lanzhou Military Region, launched a barrage of criticism at the meeting, blasting General Liu and the General Director of Training. Zhang Zhongxun first criticized the military academies led by General Liu for not allowing even a single punctuation mark to be corrected in Soviet textbooks and documents. He argued that the academies taught students solely according to Soviet textbooks, demonstrating bookishness and a complete lack of understanding of China's realities. He also criticized the academies for focusing solely on military tactics and neglecting political education.

He then criticized the General Training Department for its increasingly dogmatic approach to troop training. He completely disregarded the troops' actual conditions and forced them to fight according to Soviet Red Army methods. He even suggested that under the General Training Department's so-called formal training, the hierarchical structure between officers and soldiers in the PLA had become increasingly rigid, and relations had become increasingly strained.

Wei Hongjun looked at Zhang Zhongxun's criticism. While most of it was fine, some of it was quite extreme, clearly showing anger. However, Wei Hongjun understood that this was Zhang Zhongxun taking advantage of the situation, as the conflict between Zhang Zhongxun and the Director of Training had been going on for a long time.