Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Lu Yuwen and Ma Hong, both leaders of the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls, have been working to rectify the bureau since arriving in Liaoning. They've also been discussing issues concerning letters and calls with leaders of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee. If all local letters and calls bureaus continue to operate in this manner, it completely contradicts the original purpose of establishing the Central Bureau and reforming the work.

The biggest problem with the Liaoning Bureau of Letters and Calls is that it goes through the motions and doesn't take petition work seriously. While the Bureau is nominally established, it operates as a shell organization. The staff working there are simply random individuals picked up from various units, so they rarely handle any cases. They push matters from the public whenever possible, and delay them if they can't. In short, the Bureau has no real work to do.

There's no difference between having a petition bureau and not having one. Furthermore, no provincial leader in Liaoning was willing to oversee the petition bureau, so the vice governor in charge of education ultimately took over. He himself didn't care much about it. The petition bureau doesn't even have a formal director, only a deputy director who serves as acting director. Therefore, no single leader is responsible for the performance of the petition bureau.

Lu Yuwen and Ma Hong wrote a detailed report on the problems with the Letters and Calls Bureau. They agreed that a key provincial Party committee leader should be directly in charge of the Bureau. If problems arose, the responsible leader would be held accountable. Only then would local governments prioritize the work of the Bureau and put it back on track.

While Lu Yuwen and Ma Hong were handling the petition office's issues, other staff members, all cadres from different departments, were wandering around. These staff members all had their own areas to inspect.

Every evening after returning to the base, everyone would report and summarize their work. Lu Yuwen, as the head of the delegation, would compile all these issues. Upon returning to Beijing, he would present a report to the Secretariat on behalf of the delegation.

Of course, Lu Yuwen and Ma Hong also came out occasionally to see the situation in Shenyang. On this day, Lu Yuwen did not wander around Shenyang city, but came to the suburbs of Shenyang.

Because Shenyang's inner city is the most developed area in the city, home to government offices and industrial zones, everything is worth seeing. Lu Yuwen wanted to see Shenyang's overall development and the living conditions of the people in its suburbs. So, he suddenly decided to visit the northeastern suburbs of Shenyang.

Overall, Lu Yuwen was quite satisfied. He hadn't expected these places in the suburbs of Shenyang to be so bustling with people. Just look at these farmers' markets.

Although it wasn't as clean as the farmers' markets in the city center, and the goods weren't as complete as in the city, the products here were also very rich, and there was no shortage of meat and vegetables. This was what Lu Yuwen was most pleased about.

Why Lu Yuwen has always been willing to speak for the Communist Party of China and actively participate in government affairs since the founding of the People's Republic of China? It is because Lu Yuwen is not only a famous economist, but also because he was an official of the Nationalist government.

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he personally participated in the logistical construction and support work of the Nationalist government. During this process, he saw too much corruption and too many human tragedies caused by officials and the military, so he was extremely disappointed with the Nationalist government.

On the contrary, he had only recently come into contact with many CCP cadres, and he already understood that only the CCP could lead China's development. In the decade since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the CCP's policies have not been without their share of blunders. However, many of these errors were manageable. China's economy has continued to grow, and the lives of its people have continued to improve. Therefore, Lu Yuwen was genuinely pleased to see the development in the suburbs of Shenyang.

Jiao Ruoyu, the First Secretary of the Shenyang Municipal Party Committee, who was accompanying Lu Yuwen and Ma Hong, immediately explained to everyone that the noise at the farmers' market street was simply due to the loud voices of the supply and marketing cooperative staff, not because they were cursing.

Jiao Ruoyu, 42, dropped out of university in 1936 to join the revolution. He joined the army just as the Anti-Japanese War broke out. He participated in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Revolution and the takeover of Zhangjiakou and Xuanhua. After the war, a dispute erupted in Northeast China over urban versus rural policy. Chairman Mao demanded that the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region send urban and industrial cadres to support the Northeast. Li Shiping, Gao Weinong, and Lin Dafeng led 1000 cadres to take over factories and cities in Northeast China. Jiao Ruoyu was one of those who traveled to the Northeast during that time. During the Liberation War, he served as Deputy Mayor of Shenyang and currently serves as First Secretary of the Shenyang Municipal Party Committee. Lu Yuwen suddenly needed to visit the suburbs, and since it was impossible for Liaoning Provincial Party Committee officials to accompany him the entire time, he had to be accompanied by the Secretary of the Shenyang Municipal Party Committee.

"I'm from Hebei, and the situation there is the same. If the staff at the supply and marketing cooperative don't speak louder and have a better temper, they can't do their job at all."

Lu Yuwen smiled.

After the founding of New China, although the economy has been developing, it is still an era of material shortages.

So often, when something arrives at the supply and marketing cooperative, many people rush to grab it. At this point, if the supply and marketing cooperative staff aren't loud and assertive, they'll be unable to control the situation. A shy girl in her twenties might burst into tears when faced with this situation.

So Lu Yuwen didn't care about these things. To be honest, Lu Yuwen hadn't been out and about like this for a long time. As a member of the democratic party, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, he had a bad relationship with some people in the democratic party because of the events of 1956 and 1957. So he focused most of his energy on work.

Last year, the central government suddenly decided to transfer Lu Yuwen from the State Council to serve as deputy director of the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls. Lu Yuwen was very surprised, but he accepted the transfer very happily and was very willing to work in the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls.

Lu Yuwen wholeheartedly supports Wei Hongjun's proposed reforms to the petition system and the recent reforms to the inspection system. These systems serve as a bridge between the Party and government and the people, respectively, and between the central and local governments, allowing the central government to hear directly from local officials and the masses. This is truly a positive development.

Compared with the suggestions put forward by those democrats in 1956 and 1957, these suggestions are more practical and effective.

"Secretary Jiao, why are there so many people here at this time? I've read your report from Shenyang. Meat coupons were abolished in Shenyang in 1957, and agricultural and sideline products no longer require coupons. The fact that meat coupons were abolished shows that Shenyang isn't short of meat. It seems to me that they're all buying meat, and quite a bit at once."

Lu Yuwen raised his own questions.

Some wealthy cities across the country have gradually abolished meat coupons, making pork freely available. This is because pork is already in oversupply in some cities. Of course, this doesn't mean that the people in these cities can completely ignore the issue and eat as much meat as they want at home.

The so-called open supply in the market means that if people want to buy pork within their current income range, there is no shortage of pork. Previously, many people had money but not enough pork, so they had to use meat coupons to control the amount they could buy. But now, with open supply, there is no such thing as being unable to buy meat even if you have money.

There are many cities like this across China. Shenyang is one of them. Shenyang is currently one of the cities with the best economic development in the country.

Just look at some economic data from 1957. Shenyang's total commodity sales reached 9.473 million yuan, just shy of exceeding 1.3 billion yuan and one-third of Shanghai's. Total deposits held by urban residents and rural cooperatives in Shenyang reached million yuan, a quarter of Shanghai's.

Analyzing from the population size, Shenyang's per capita consumption and savings, although not as high as Shanghai's, are not much behind, which shows the speed of Shenyang's economic development.

Just by looking at this data, you can see that Shenyang’s current consumption capacity is very strong and wealth accumulation is very fast.

In other words, some major cities in Northeast China, and even some counties in regions with relatively high pig production, have already abolished meat coupons. This shows the great development of the pig farming industry in Northeast China in recent years.

But Jiao Ruoyu saw that the people in front of him were buying things, mainly pork and other vegetables, and the quantity they bought was not small.

"Deputy Director Lu, these people who are buying large quantities of meat and vegetables are not from Shenyang. They are from some counties and towns under the Tieling Special District."

Wang Congzhou, deputy division commander of Shenyang, responded. Wang Congzhou, 41, joined the revolution in Tang County during the development of Yang Quanwu's First Division in Hebei. Because he had attended school and was educated, he immediately became a cultural instructor in the Eighth Route Army, then a company instructor and battalion instructor. Later, he became the director of the political department at a major hospital in the Jin-Cha-Ji rear area. When the Wei Red Army established the Chanan Medical School, he served as a political commissar.

He served as regimental political commissar during the final stages of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and as divisional political commissar during the Liberation War. During the Korean War, he served as director of the army's political department. After returning from Korea, the unit remained in Northeast China. As the nation's military downsizing progressed, some military cadres were encouraged to move to the local areas. Wang Congzhou subsequently moved to the local areas, serving as a member of the Shenyang Municipal Party Committee and deputy mayor.

"People from Tieling District? Why are they here?"

"Some towns in Tieling Prefecture have limited production of agricultural and sideline products, so the market is in short supply. They happen to be very close to us, and many daily necessities don't require coupons, so they choose to buy things here. Some rural supply and marketing cooperatives here are set up specifically to provide them with meat and vegetables."

Wang Congzhou gave Lu Yuwen a detailed explanation.

Ma Hong, who had been silent, asked, "How far are these counties and towns from here?"

"Some are less than ten miles away, and some are as far as thirty or forty miles away. If they are farther away, they may not come to us and go somewhere else to buy."

"Are there many people?"

"A lot. Even some government agencies and factory buyers come to us to buy a lot of things at once."

Ma Hong had initially been reluctant to take the stand, given his sensitive position. Before liberation, while serving as Deputy Secretary-General and Director of the Policy Research Office of the Northeast Bureau, he conducted several months of research in Shenyang, Fushun, Anshan, Benxi, and other places. He concluded that Northeast China had five economic components, a conclusion fully adopted by the Chairman and subsequently used at the Second Session of the Seventh Central Committee. Therefore, Ma Hong was very familiar with the cadres in Liaoning.

But he couldn't help but say, "Since the market is in short supply, it means these areas are short of agricultural and sideline products. Why don't they buy large quantities from here and put them on the market? This will not only stabilize the market and provide the people with sufficient agricultural and sideline products, but they might even make a profit."

If counties and towns are short of agricultural and sideline products, they can organize people to wholesale them here and then put them on the market. After the free market for agricultural and sideline products was opened, many cities used this method to solve the problem of agricultural and sideline product shortages.

"It's just that some counties and townships can't sell at high prices. For many rural cooperatives, they are surrounded by industrial cities. Even wholesale sales are to these industrial cities, not to counties and townships."

Wholesale means lower prices than regular sales. The surrounding industrial cities of Anshan and Benxi are full of factories, each one richer than the other. Wholesale doesn't necessarily drive down prices too much.

However, the economies of those counties and towns were weaker than those of industrial cities, and they didn’t demand as much as industrial cities, and the prices were lower. Therefore, the rural supply and marketing cooperatives would rather sell them individually than wholesale.

Lu Yuwen interjected, "For rural cooperatives, they should be willing to contribute and earn more money. Since it's not far away, members of rural cooperatives should be willing to walk dozens of miles to open supply and marketing cooperatives in counties and towns that lack agricultural and sideline products. In counties and towns where agricultural and sideline products are in short supply, they should be able to earn more money. If you earn an extra cent per kilogram, that's 10,000 kilograms, which is 100 yuan. I know that for many rural areas, earning an extra 100 yuan for your work should be a good thing. And I know that the yield of vegetables and other products is not low, much higher than that of grain."

Walking just a few dozen or so miles was nothing for rural farmers. In the 1980s and 1990s, many villagers would set out at four or five in the morning to sell vegetables in the county town, walking for hours. For impoverished rural residents, if they could earn money, they were likely willing to do so. Furthermore, establishing a supply and marketing cooperative provided them with a fixed stall and a simple matter of delivering goods on a regular basis.

Over a long period of time, the money earned should be quite considerable.

"Deputy Director Lu, although the distance is very close, that's Tieling Prefecture, and we're in Shenyang. For the free market for agricultural and sideline products, the certificate of approval for establishing a supply and marketing cooperative is only valid within the city and prefecture. Some are even only valid within their own county and won't be recognized in other counties. So these supply and marketing cooperatives in the farmers' markets here are valid in Shenyang City, and we recognize them. You can rent a shop in any farmers' market in Shenyang to establish a supply and marketing cooperative. But if you go to another prefecture, they won't recognize that certificate and won't allow you to open a supply and marketing cooperative for agricultural and sideline products. So don't underestimate this seemingly small issue; it will take a long time for both parties to communicate to resolve it."

Wang Congzhou expressed his embarrassment, because this problem seemed small, but it was a huge hassle to solve.

Some villages are only a few hundred meters apart and are practically next to each other, but because they belong to different counties, many issues become very difficult to resolve.

For example, disputes over mountains and land can lead to conflicts between the two counties. Some issues that seem easily solvable between the two villages can remain unresolved for years because they belong to different counties.

Unless there's coordination at a higher level of government, cooperation between two counties or two cities will be a daunting task. If even one side isn't proactive, many issues can become unresolved.

Of course, a more important reason is that people don't take this issue seriously. After all, the entire Tieling Prefecture isn't short on agricultural and sideline products; it's only a small number of counties and townships that are experiencing this problem. Shenyang City won't proactively help resolve the Tieling Prefecture's problems, and the Prefecture doesn't consider them a big deal. This situation is why.

Lu Yuwen nodded, understanding Wang Congzhou's meaning, so he didn't say anything else. This time I came to the local area just to inspect, I have no right to interfere in local affairs. And even if I did, the local authorities might not pay any attention to me.

The Shenyang Municipal Party Secretary and Deputy Mayor are accompanying you now because you're a central government official. Perhaps even more so because of your old boss, Ma Hong. So if a conflict were to arise, they wouldn't necessarily punish you. So what if you're a central government official? They're not directly in charge of them.

However, Lu Yuwen and Ma Hong were not upset by this incident, because they came here to inspect and see if there were any problems.

If they discover problems, summarize them and report them to the central government, then their work will be successful.

"Why don't we see any supply and marketing cooperatives selling industrial products here?"

"This is the farmers' market, which mainly sells agricultural and sideline products. Industrial products are on the other street."

1056 Booming Rural Industry and Commerce

Zhejiang was chosen as the province in East China for this inspection tour, primarily because, compared to Jiangsu and Shanghai, Zhejiang had its fair share of wealthy individuals during the Republican era, but its overall industry and agriculture were relatively underdeveloped at the time of liberation. Furthermore, like Hunan and Guangxi, Zhejiang was also a province that faced a significant challenge in suppressing banditry after liberation.

Zhejiang was Chiang Kai-shek's hometown, and many high-ranking officials in the Nationalist government were from Zhejiang. Consequently, Zhejiang was overrun with various secret services and government agencies during the early years of the Liberation Army. Furthermore, the Third Field Army adopted a policy of free movement, failing to properly screen captured Nationalist officers and soldiers. Consequently, many Nationalist prisoners of war became bandits in Zhejiang after being released by the People's Liberation Army.

At its peak, Zhejiang's bandits were said to number 500,000. Of course, the actual number was less than that, but there were still over 200,000. Tan Zhenlin was urgently transferred to Zhejiang, and with the support of Fujian, Jiangxi, and Anhui, he completely eliminated the bandit problem in Zhejiang.

Furthermore, Zhejiang is a coastal province, and the government initially paid less attention to coastal provinces. State investment in Zhejiang, whether in industry or agriculture, has been minimal. In recent years, Zhejiang has received less attention than Anhui and Jiangxi. While Anhui and Jiangxi have numerous state-funded industrial projects, Zhejiang has been a neglected province.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun chose Zhejiang as the province for his inspection this time. Wei Hongjun also wanted to know what the current situation in Zhejiang is like.

Wei Hongjun's attention hadn't been focused on Zhejiang in recent years. Therefore, his understanding of Zhejiang's situation depended solely on reports from the region. However, Zhejiang was historically the province with the most developed township enterprises in China, having become China's wealthiest province through sheer hard work. So, now that he had the opportunity, Wei Hongjun wanted to gain a thorough understanding of Zhejiang's current development.

Xia Houwen brought a working group to Zhejiang to conduct a comprehensive survey of the development of industry and agriculture in Zhejiang. Xia Houwen was very familiar with Jiang Hua, the current Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee.

After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Jiang Hua followed General Luo from Shandong to Northeast China. He then served in the Ximan Military Region, where Xia Houwen was the political commissar. He was not only in charge of the military region, but also of local land reform work in Jilin, Andong, and Liaobei provinces.

This was the advantage of establishing a base area ahead of time. Jiang Hua had been a secretary of the Front Committee of the Red Fourth Army in his early years and a political commissar of a Red Army division before the Long March. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he had served as director of the Political Department of the Shandong Column and then the Political Department of the Shandong Military Region, a very high-ranking official.

Consider Xia Houwen's development. He began the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression as a battalion-level officer, and by the end of the war, he was a brigade-level officer under the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and the political commissar of a third-level military sub-district. However, he made outstanding contributions to the development of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Base Area, especially the establishment of the West Manchuria Military Region and the creation of numerous small anti-Japanese base areas in the East Manchuria region. Not only did he expand his main force by tens of thousands of men, but he also developed a large number of local forces. The base area construction was also thriving, winning the hearts of the local people and making all preparations for the subsequent large-scale entry of the army into the Northeast.

By the time the Central Committee officially established the Northeast Bureau and the Northeast Military Region, Xia Houwen had already established a firm foothold in the Northeast. He was even well-known throughout the entire Northeast Party, government, and military system.

Therefore, after cadres of Jiang Hua's level came to the Northeast, they could only work under Xiahou Wen first and serve as the deputy secretary of the Andong Provincial Party Committee.

After liberation, one became secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, and the other became the political commissar of a major military region. However, who could have imagined that Xia Houwen would leave the army and be transferred to the central government, becoming director of the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls, and then suddenly becoming alternate secretary of the Secretariat. His political status within the party had reached a new level.

When the two old comrades met, Xia Houwen told Jiang Hua directly that in addition to checking out the Zhejiang Petition Bureau, they also wanted to see the current development of Zhejiang, especially the development of industry and agriculture in Zhejiang.

Jiang Hua didn't stop him. In fact, after the Organization Department, the Supervisory Commission, the Propaganda Department, and the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls began discussing the inspection system, local officials had also caught wind of it. After all, Wei Hongjun wasn't trying to secretly promote the inspection system; on the contrary, he wanted to discuss it widely and listen to opinions from within the Party.

So Jiang Hua understood that Xiahou Wen came here this time to inspect Zhejiang.

But Jiang Hua wasn't afraid. Zhejiang had developed tremendously in recent years. Both industry and agriculture had made astonishing progress. Even if there were some problems, Jiang Hua didn't consider them a big deal. Furthermore, Jiang Hua trusted Xia Houwen's character and didn't think he'd come to Zhejiang to deliberately pick a fight with him. As long as he could objectively assess Zhejiang's development over the years, Jiang Hua wasn't afraid.

Therefore, Jiang Hua had no objection to Xia Houwen's desire to explore Zhejiang. He sent someone to protect Xia Houwen's safety, and as for where Xia Houwen wanted to go, Jiang Hua agreed. He would be even happier if Xia Houwen could, for the sake of his old colleague, bring some central government investment to Zhejiang.

Xia Houwen was a cadre who had independently established a base, so he was very experienced in communicating with ordinary people. In particular, his appearance made the people trust him very much.

Because when Xiahou Wen was doing mass work, he didn't look like a senior cadre, but more like an old farmer from the countryside.

"Comrade Xia, are you a cadre?"

Many people, upon hearing Xia Houwen's name, assumed that his surname was Xia, so Xia Houwen accepted it as his given name.

Xia Houwen saw a group of people taking a break, so he got off the car and talked to them. Because Xia Houwen was riding in the car, everyone knew that he was a cadre.

"Why, I don't look like a cadre?"

"Yeah, like an old farmer."

"Hahaha. Speaking of which, I really come from a peasant family. My father and grandfather were both farmers. It was only later that I took up arms and fought in wars, and became a soldier. But even if I became a cadre, my father is a farmer, so I am a farmer's son."

Xia Houwen loved chatting with the people. He could get a lot of information from them that he couldn't get from reports. Their casual words would reveal the real situation.

Xia Houwen took out a cigarette from his pocket and distributed it to several people. Then he naturally lit cigarettes for several people.

Xiahou Wen acted so naturally that he didn't look like a cadre at all, or rather, he didn't have any cadre airs. Furthermore, Xiahou Wen lit his cigarette naturally, showing no disdain for the dirt on the floor. He simply placed his things there and sat down, just like the others. This behavior made everyone see him as no longer a cadre, but a farmer like them, and this quickly brought them closer.

"Comrade Xia, to be honest, your cigarette is just average, not strong. It doesn't have much energy when you're tired. It's not as good as my dry cigarette."

The old farmer in the front put Xia Houwen's cigarette on his ear and smoked his own pipe.

"I used to smoke dry tobacco, too. Now I'm a cadre and can't go out...right?"

"Deal, deal."

"Sure."

Everyone understood what Xia Houwen was saying. Being a cadre meant he had to clean up and maintain some dignity. However, some people looked at Xia Houwen and shook their heads. He didn't look like a cadre at all.