Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

However, building a steel plant of this scale is difficult for Anhui. Previously, Anhui had been planning a steel plant with an annual output of 5 tons. For this scale, Anhui had considered building small blast furnaces, due to insufficient funds and technical expertise. Now, Li Fuchun is demanding that Anhui build a steel plant with an annual output of 30 tons. This medium-sized plant would require a blast furnace of to cubic meters, which Anhui cannot build on its own. Consequently, the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government are extremely hesitant and hesitant to commit.

Li Fuchun was aware of this situation when he was negotiating with Anhui. So, he approached Shanghai, hoping for its support. The condition was that the steel mill, once established, would provide Shanghai with at least 10 tons of steel annually.

Before liberation, Shanghai's industry, especially its light industry, accounted for almost half of China's total. In fact, Shanghai's development slowed down in the first few years after liberation.

The main reason was that Shanghai's leaders at the time were hesitant to fully develop the city. This was partly due to concerns about war in coastal areas, and partly due to the fact that Shanghai's economic development relied heavily on Shanghai capitalists. In the first few years after liberation, Shanghai prioritized stability over industrial development.

However, this situation changed dramatically after Ke Qingshi and Chen Pixian took office in Shanghai. Firstly, the central government officially decided to develop the coastal economy, and secondly, Ke Qingshi positioned Shanghai as a leader in China's industrial and technological advancement. With the support of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, Shanghai's industrial and commercial development accelerated rapidly, especially in light industry. Consequently, Shanghai now boasts a high demand for steel.

However, steel production is currently concentrated in heavy industry and transportation, making it increasingly difficult for light industry to secure steel allocations. Furthermore, steel is scarce in the market. Despite being China's most economically powerful city, Shanghai has no other options.

After Li Fuchun's negotiations, Shanghai agreed to the plan. However, Shanghai demanded that the Hefei Steel Plant provide at least 15 tons of steel annually after completion. Shanghai would not only provide funding for the Hefei Steel Plant's establishment, but would also dispatch technical experts to help Anhui establish a steel plant.

Anhui Province also agreed to Shanghai's request. For Anhui, building a steel plant with an annual output of 30 tons would significantly boost its economy. The Ma'anshan mine currently employs fewer than 3000 people, but to support Maanshan Steel's construction, the company plans to expand that number to 9000.

A medium-sized steel complex encompasses numerous factories, adding tens of thousands of workers. Therefore, for Anhui, the establishment of such a medium-sized steel mill is a boon. While Shanghai will be subject to certain constraints, including significant shareholding and profit distribution, the steel mill itself would not exist without its support. Anhui prioritizes the benefits of the steel mill over profit sharing. Consequently, Anhui immediately began mobilizing tens of thousands of people within the province to participate in the construction of the Hefei Steel Mill, aiming to have the No. 1 blast furnace erected within seven or eight months.

Why did the development of local steel industry be considered as the best solution to the current steel shortage at this financial work conference? It is because local steel mills are being built quickly.

A small steel plant, such as a 100-cubic-meter blast furnace, can be erected in three to four months at China's current construction speed, once technical issues are resolved. Even a blast furnace of several hundred cubic meters can be erected in about six months. This means that most small and medium-sized local steel plants can begin production within a year. From construction to iron production, a small steel plant can sometimes be completed in just four to five months.

In addition, small steel mills require less investment, with an initial investment of only a few million yuan. In comparison, large steel mills like Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation require an initial investment of hundreds of millions of yuan, and subsequently a total investment of about 14 billion yuan.

Of course, another reason is that many of the machinery and equipment needed by large steel mills cannot be produced in China, so they need to be imported from the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.

However, China is already fully capable of domestically producing machinery and equipment for medium-sized and small steel mills, eliminating the need for imports. This is also a consideration of the central government.

After advancing the affairs of the Hefei Iron and Steel Plant, Li Fuchun successively visited Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and other provinces.

The reason for going to Guangdong is the same as for going to Shanghai. Guangdong is wealthy, while Guangxi is poor. The central government approved Guangxi's application to build the Liuzhou Steel Plant. However, Guangxi is severely short of funds and needs central support. For the Liuzhou Steel Plant, Guangxi plans to build two 225-cubic-meter blast furnaces with an annual production capacity of 12 tons.

At the same time, to build the Liuzhou Steel Plant, surrounding factories were constructed to complement it. Liuzhou had virtually no infrastructure, and all supporting factories had to be built from scratch. The infrastructure was significantly inferior to that of Anhui Province, so the total investment required for all projects was 1.4 million yuan. The initial investment alone required over 2000 million yuan.

However, the central government is currently unable to provide much support to Guangxi. Therefore, the central government has allocated 1000 million yuan to the Liuzhou Steel Plant, leaving the rest of the funding to Guangxi itself.

Guangxi's finances were so poor, how could they possibly have such a large sum of money? Consequently, Guangxi's budget was being cut again and again. Su Zhenhua, a former military political commissar, planned to minimize all budgets, especially labor costs, aside from machinery and equipment, reducing the total investment to under 100 million yuan. He would lead the people of Guangxi, even if it meant tightening their belts, to take over the Liuzhou Steel Plant.

Li Fuchun approached Guangdong, hoping the province would support the construction of the Liuzhou Steel Plant in Guangxi. Guangdong was reluctant because it already had the Guangzhou Steel Plant. Furthermore, the Liuzhou Steel Plant in Guangxi had invested too much and produced too little.

However, Guangdong did not directly reject the proposal. Instead, it convened a group of Guangdong's light industrial enterprises, all of which were major steel consumers. Guangdong united these enterprises to jointly support Guangxi's Liuzhou Steel Plant. However, Guangdong offered Guangxi two options: the Guangdong Provincial Government and these enterprises jointly invested in and became shareholders of the Liuzhou Steel Plant, or the Guangdong Provincial Government and these enterprises loaned the money to the Liuzhou Steel Plant, requiring it to repay the money with interest.

At the same time, Guangdong required the Liuzhou Steel Plant to build two 500-cubic-meter blast furnaces. Whether through equity investment or loans, the plant was required to sell 70% of its steel production to Guangdong within the next ten years, primarily to light industrial enterprises. Their investment in the Liuzhou Steel Plant was intended to ensure their company's access to steel.

Su Zhenhua had previously served as the deputy political commissar of the Guangzhou Military Region and was very familiar with Tao Zhu, Chen Tao, and the others. With Li Fuchun mediating, Su Zhenhua directly relied on Tao Zhu and Chen Tao. The negotiations between them went relatively smoothly.

The purpose of the Hunan-Jiangxi, Guizhou-Yunnan, and other provinces is to unite the two provinces. Hunan and Jiangxi have already cooperated in the production of rear-wheeled motorcycles and in the establishment of the newly established Nanchang Motorcycle Factory. Therefore, it is easier for them to cooperate.

Li Fuchun orchestrated a joint venture between Jiangxi and Hunan to establish the Lianyuan Steel Plant. This was one of the local steel plants approved by the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry. Hunan was originally capable of operating a small steel plant, but with some support from the central government and Jiangxi, it could become a medium-sized plant.

Guizhou and Yunnan are planning to build Guiyang Iron and Steel. Guizhou is incredibly poor, and while small blast furnaces would be a viable option, the central government has set a minimum standard of 100 cubic meters for blast furnaces. This makes it difficult for Guizhou to build its own steel mills.

That's why Li Fuchun brought Yunnan to the project. However, Yunnan's response was lukewarm, as they showed little interest in the Guizhou steel mill. Yunnan's own demand for steel was low, and its finances were limited. While the Guizhou steel mill was small, with a production capacity of only tens of thousands of tons in the first phase, the investment wouldn't be significant. Even if the investment was modest, it would still require several million yuan.

Although Yunnan's leaders, out of respect for Li Fuchun's status as a Politburo member, verbally expressed support for the cooperation, Yunnan pushed back when it came to the specifics. Li Fuchun knew that if Yunnan wasn't genuinely willing, the steel plant wouldn't be able to complete the project.

After several attempts at persuasion failed, Li Fuchun chose to approach Sichuan. He offered his sincere advice to the Sichuan leaders. He first explained that Sichuan's industrial development had been strong in recent years, and demand for steel was increasing. By the time the Third Five-Year Plan rolled around, central government investment in Sichuan and other regions would inevitably increase, leading to a steel shortage in Sichuan. He also explained that the Sichuan-Guizhou Railway was currently under construction, and once completed, Sichuan could utilize Guizhou's steel. This was a win-win for both sides.

To address the challenges of developing the local steel industry, Li Fuchun traveled across the country, soliciting funds from wealthy provinces and large state-owned factories to bring more capital into the local steel industry. Over several months, he secured 11 local steel mills nationwide.

While Li Fuchun was busy solving the steel shortage problem, Wei Hongjun was preparing to experiment with how the central inspection team would inspect local areas.

1053 Inspection Test

Wei Hongjun had a rough idea of ​​the central inspection system in mind. He'd started working at the previous Space-Time Research Institute after graduating. Although a grassroots civil servant, he was very familiar with many of the inspection systems. While not a member of the Central Inspection Team, he had seen numerous provincial inspection teams. In order to deal with the provincial inspection team, Wei Hongjun and his team compiled the extra documents they needed.

But Wei Hongjun knew that policies would necessarily differ at different stages of social development. The economic and social conditions, as well as the public opinion facing the Party and government, half a century from now would be completely different from today. Therefore, the focus of the inspections would also be different.

If Wei Hongjun simply copied the inspection system he was familiar with, it would definitely not work. So Wei Hongjun needed some experiments to improve the central inspection system.

However, how to conduct the experiment still requires discussion with everyone and listening to their opinions. Because China's socialist construction has reached this stage, many of the problems it faces are no longer something Wei Hongjun can solve simply by relying on history. Because many of the problems China faces today are no longer part of history, or in other words, the current situation has begun to deviate from its original historical framework, Wei Hongjun needs to find a new path himself.

So Wei Hongjun convened leading cadres from several important departments, including the Organization Department, the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Supervisory Commission, the Propaganda Department, the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls, and the Central Policy Research Office, to discuss this issue.

Not only the secretaries and alternate secretaries of the Secretariat, but also the deputy ministers of the Organization Department, the deputy secretary of the Supervisory Commission, the deputy minister of the Propaganda Department, and the deputy director of the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls, and other major leaders of these departments, participated in the participation.

During this period, these departments were also discussing how to implement the central inspection system. Wei Hongjun needed to organize their opinions.

Chen Tanqiu was the first to speak: "Since we haven't yet established a clear inspection system and haven't established a central inspection team, we can't send people to the local areas in the name of inspection."

"But after all, they are staff sent by the central government, so at least they need a name. You can't just go to the local area without any name."

"So my suggestion is to form a central working group, headed by the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls, with support from the Organization Department, the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Supervisory Commission, the Propaganda Department, and some staff from other ministries and commissions. After the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls was established, each province also established its own. But the Letters and Calls Bureau is, after all, a new institution, and it has many more features than the previous petition system. So, after the establishment of local Letters and Calls Bureaus, we still need to investigate their specific operations. It's a good opportunity to conduct inspections of local areas under the guise of the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls, using the excuse of inspecting the work of the Letters and Calls Bureaus."

"Of course, we can't conduct inspections blindly. After all, this is a brand-new endeavor, and there are many issues that we don't fully understand. So, if the scope of the inspection is too broad, it will easily confuse our work team and make them unsure of what to focus on. Therefore, we must clearly define the scope of this inspection. For example, we can inspect issues related to local Party building, local Party members and cadres' compliance with Party discipline, the integrity of Party members and cadres, whether there is waste in local institutions, and the relationship between Party members and cadres and the people. Besides the issues concerning the Letters and Calls Bureau, we have identified a few other issues as the key areas of focus for this inspection."

"Once the inspection content is clear, the inspection team can focus its main efforts on this aspect. In this way, when the working group arrives at the local area, they can start their work very clearly."

Chen Tanqiu had recently devoted considerable time to the issue of inspections. After all, the purpose of inspections ultimately came down to cadre issues, which was precisely the Organization Department's purview. Therefore, he immediately expressed his views.

Chen Tanqiu remained cautious, fearing that the Central Inspection Team, lacking any experience, might end up doing nothing well if they tried to inspect everything.

Therefore, it is better to outline the key points before the inspection team goes to the local area so that they have a clear direction for the inspection. This way, the inspection team will not be confused when they arrive at the local area.

"Other comrades, please share your thoughts as well."

Tan Zhenlin began, "What should we do if the inspection team discovers a Party member or cadre engaging in corruption, bribery, extravagance, or violation of Party discipline? Should we arrest them directly or hand them over to the local authorities?"

Everyone has different understandings of the specific circumstances of the inspection system, so there are still disagreements on some issues.

Tan Zhenlin is the head of the Central Supervisory Committee, so he considered the inspection system to strengthen intra-party supervision. If the inspection team finds problems in the local area, how will it be handled?

According to Tan Zhenlin's idea, the Central Inspection Team should have been more decisive at this time and taken down the cadre directly.

"The new inspection system is different from the previous special envoy system. It cannot arbitrarily interfere with local work, let alone directly lead local work. Therefore, I believe that even if an inspection team discovers some problems, it should not directly take down a cadre. The inspection team should not have such power."

Wei Hongjun shook his head.

The inspection system is a significant constraint on local governments. Local governments are already not particularly satisfied with the system, and if the central inspection team were given too much power, it would easily cause a backlash within the Party.

Many veteran cadres are particularly resentful of the special envoy system. Giving inspection teams too much power, especially the power to directly take down local officials, could easily lead to reminiscent of the previous special envoy system.

By then, opposition to the inspection system would not only come from local authorities, but also from central government officials. Once the inspection team had the power to arrest people at the local level, it would have too much power. This was something Wei Hongjun was desperate to avoid.

The inspection teams planned by Wei Hongjun are not meant to handle problems, but rather to identify them. They will visit local areas, factories, and schools to identify any issues. Once problems are identified, other departments will follow suit to address them.

So Wei Hongjun continued, "If the inspection team discovers any problems, such as evidence of corruption or bribery by a certain cadre, and the cadre is under provincial management, then the case will be transferred to the Provincial Supervisory Commission and the Provincial Organization Department. If the cadre is under central management, then the case will be transferred to the Central Supervisory Commission and the Central Organization Department."

"The most important task of the inspection team isn't to investigate a particular cadre. It's to observe the overall situation. If a local department is wasteful, unconcerned about Party building, and aloof from the people, then the entire department is flawed, and there must be problems with its leadership. The inspection team can identify these problems, report them to the central government, and oversee local rectification, rather than having to personally rectify them themselves."

After hearing Wei Hongjun's words, Luo Qirong, deputy secretary of the Supervisory Commission, said, "Inspection teams should have certain powers, especially the power to restrict local authorities. Otherwise, many problems won't be solved at the local level. Many local governments now have veterans from the revolutionary era. Even if problems are discovered, the local authorities will be able to address them."

Luo Qirong dealt with localism and factionalism in Guangdong.

Therefore, they understand better than anyone the complexity of current local issues. Many provinces, including the cities and counties below them, are staffed by cadres who served in a military region or sub-district during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

This was true in both the old and new liberated areas. Needless to say, the old liberated areas all evolved from anti-Japanese base areas and liberated areas. Many cadres in the new liberated areas were directly recruited by the cadre columns that went south. These cadre columns that went south also originally came from the same place.

These cadres, who had been revolutionizing together for more than ten or twenty years, thought that minor problems were just a fuss made by their superiors, so they liked to conceal the truth from each other and minimize major issues.

If the inspection team itself has little power, how can it carry out its work?

"Comrade Luo Qirong is right. Local issues are very complex. Even if the inspection team discovers minor problems, the local authorities will not take them seriously. If problems are discovered and handed over to the local authorities, they will not seriously rectify them."

Minister of Supervision Qian Ying spoke up. As Minister of Supervision, Qian Ying had handled many local government cases in recent years.

The most difficult aspect of handling these cases is the tendency for local officials to protect one another. This stems from rampant localism and factionalism. They view ordinary issues as minor issues and believe the Supervision Department is overdoing it. Consequently, they are reluctant to cooperate during investigations, resorting to various means to intercede and cover up problems.

"The power of the inspection team cannot be too great, especially not the same as that of the Supervisory Commission or the Ministry of Supervision. If it were the same as the Supervisory Commission or the Ministry of Supervision, then the inspection team would become a supervisory agency. In that case, the inspection team's main task would be to supervise Party members and cadres, which would actually reduce the effectiveness of the inspection work."

Wei Hongjun still objected, saying, "The inspection team isn't a central department. Every time they conduct an inspection, they draw cadres from various ministries and commissions to join the inspection team. What's the purpose?"

"We need to go to the localities and observe the work style and achievements of local institutions, the implementation of the central government's directives, and the relationship between Party members and cadres and the people. Intra-Party supervision is only one aspect of the inspection work."

"It's like if we were to go on an inspection tour in Henan. The scope of the inspection would be very broad. We would look at Henan's industrial development, the development of rural industry and commerce, water conservancy construction, Party building, and propaganda work. Of course, this would also include issues related to Henan's educational development and health work."

"If we find deviations in Henan's industrial development, exaggerations in rural work, or unscientific water conservancy construction, then even if there aren't specific cadres at fault, these are still work mistakes. The inspection team needs to report these to the central government so they can address them."

"This is what inspection work is all about. Our inspection work can't just be about monitoring whether party cadres have embezzled or accepted bribes. That would be too limited."

If the Central Inspection Team only focuses on corruption and bribery among Party members and cadres, then there is no need to establish an inspection team. The Supervisory Commission can simply set up a team to conduct inspections at the local level.

Wei Hongjun envisions a central inspection team covering all aspects of the province. For example, if a province is obsessed with grandiose projects, the inspection team could report this to the central government, allowing the central government to promptly adjust the province's work.

Even in some provinces, various bad traditions, customs, and vulgar culture have been passed down, seriously undermining people's daily lives. However, government agencies have shown little concern for these issues and have failed to guide the people in changing their customs. The inspection team can also compile and report these issues to the central government.

It can be said that the inspection teams' scope of inspection is very broad. However, the more so, the less likely they are to possess the powers of special envoys under the previous special envoy system. Wei Hongjun was very clear on this point.

"I agree with Comrade Wei Hongjun's statement."

Chen Tanqiu spoke in support of Wei Hongjun, saying, "In fact, as long as the Secretariat establishes a Central Inspection Leading Group and a Central Inspection Team, the Central Inspection Team will already have great power. That is, the Central Inspection Team can report directly to the Secretariat. This is the greatest power."

"Comrades, the Secretariat handles the day-to-day work of the Party Central Committee. The Central Inspection Team can report directly to the Secretariat, which means they are reporting what they observe at the local level directly to the Party Central Committee. Isn't that enough power? A Central Inspection Team with such power is enough to make local governments treat it with extreme caution."

"If, on this basis, we give the central inspection teams more power, then what do they want to do when they arrive in the localities? Do they want to replace the provincial party committees themselves?"

The inspection team's greatest power isn't its own power, but its access to the highest levels of government. The Central Inspection Team can report to the Secretariat at any time and from anywhere, effectively communicating directly with the central leadership. This is the team's greatest power.

It's not easy for many local issues to reach the central leadership. Central leaders have so many things to deal with every day, how can they possibly pay attention to local happenings? Therefore, much of what central leaders know about local areas comes from local reports.

But local reports are always good-looking. Therefore, the Chairman has always regarded his secretarial and security teams as a channel between himself and the grassroots.

Every time someone close to him returned to his hometown, the Chairman would ask them to conduct a thorough investigation there and then share their report with him. This was a measure the Chairman often took when he was unable to personally conduct investigations at the grassroots level.

However, this approach is only a stopgap measure and cannot be used in the long term. Furthermore, it can easily lead to political turmoil for secretarial and security personnel who hold lower-ranking positions but are in sensitive positions. Therefore, a comprehensive, formal inspection system is necessary to ensure an alternative information channel between the central and local governments.

"But the concerns of Comrades Tan Zhenlin, Luo Qirong, and Qian Ying are not without reason."

Zhao Zhensheng, Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, said, "The Central Inspection Team's contact with the Secretariat will certainly make local governments wary. However, given the complexities of local situations, they could easily cut off communication between local cadres and the inspection team, preventing them from obtaining the information they seek. Therefore, local governments must be constrained in this regard, and we must not allow them to interfere with the inspection team's freedom of movement."

The central government has great power, but this power is not unlimited and is subject to many constraints. The same is true for central inspection teams, which can easily be isolated by local governments when they arrive in the local area.

"We can first see how local governments respond to central inspections. We are gradually improving the inspection system."

Chen Tanqiu answered Zhao Zhensheng.

Establishing a new inspection system won't happen overnight. It will require repeated refinement based on changing circumstances. Establishing a comprehensive inspection system will take at least ten years.

Everyone was still very active and expressed their ideas about the inspection system.

Wei Hongjun listened to the discussion, occasionally interjecting his own views. Of course, Chen Tanqiu, Tan Zhenlin, Luo Qirong, and Zhao Zhensheng were all senior Party cadres, and they weren't the type to easily change their opinions. So, they didn't abandon their own views simply because they disagreed with Wei Hongjun. Everyone engaged in a back-and-forth, fully expressing their opinions.

The meeting was lively and, of course, fruitful. This is because through debate, consensus is reached. Every topic where consensus is reached is a milestone. Gradually, a rough draft of the inspection system was finalized. Some controversial points were shelved for later discussion. At the same time, many regulations were also agreed upon for this inspection experiment.

After everyone finished their discussion, Wei Hongjun said, "Comrade Xiahou Wen, this time we need your Letters and Calls Bureau to take the lead in this inspection experiment. What do you think?"

"Secretary Wei, our Letters and Calls Bureau has accepted the order and will definitely complete the task successfully."

Xiahou Wen immediately promised.