Chapter 26 7.5 "Dividing fields to households" has been criticized and ignored

If you are sure about something, you have to say it without avoiding risks.Chen Yun proposed "dividing fields to households" in order to overcome difficulties, but he was severely criticized and ignored. Industrial adjustment has a way, and agricultural adjustment also needs to find a way.Agricultural production was most affected by the "Great Leap Forward" and natural disasters. During those difficult days, Chen Yun paid great attention to agricultural issues.The emergency measures for the food crisis can only be dealt with temporarily. To get out of the predicament, we still need to find ways to increase food production.

What is the reason for the reduction in grain production in the past few years?No one dared to find the "Great Leap Forward" problem, but attributed it to natural disasters.Chen Yun disagreed with this statement. As soon as he resumed work in 1961, he stated clearly: I don't believe that some people said that the production was reduced by 120 billion catties due to the disaster last year.Li Xiannian said it was 50 billion catties, but I calculated it to be at most 36 billion catties.I traveled to several provinces, and my impression is that the northern provinces mainly reduced production due to disasters, while Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Guangdong did not. Farmers in Zhejiang did not admit that there were disasters.Engaging in egalitarianism has greatly reduced the enthusiasm of farmers.

However, under the conditions at the time, this view would definitely be resisted.Therefore, what Chen Yun considered more at first was how to restore and develop agricultural productivity.He believes that the development of chemical industry and water conservancy can play a great role in increasing agricultural production, among which the development of chemical fertilizers is the fastest and most important way to increase agricultural production.With an annual output of 1 million tons of chemical fertilizers, an investment of only 1 billion yuan can increase grain production by 3 million tons or 6 billion catties.In the same way to increase the production of so much grain, using the method of opening up wasteland requires an investment of 1.5 billion yuan to open up 30 million mu of land.

One of the most important reasons for the destruction of agricultural production is that the "communization" movement was seriously divorced from the reality of agricultural productivity, and made rash advances in production relations, blind command, exaggeration, one level and two adjustments, egalitarianism, high targets and high purchases, and engaging in public relations. Mistakes such as canteens and other misconduct have seriously affected the enthusiasm of farmers for production, and they must be resolved as soon as possible.Chen Yun has always believed that to do a good job in food production, the most important thing is to solve policy issues. In May 1961, Chen Yun raised this issue to the central government.He pointed out at the Central Work Conference that if policy issues are not resolved, the enthusiasm of farmers will not be brought into play, and no matter how many other measures are taken, agricultural production will not increase.

In order to obtain first-hand materials from the countryside, Chen Yun took a survey team back to his hometown of Qingpu County, Shanghai, from late June to early July, and lived in Xiaozheng Commune for 15 days to conduct rural surveys and see with his own eyes Regarding the situation in the countryside, I have personally heard the voices of farmers and grassroots cadres.At that time, in order to cope with the superiors, when the leaders came, they made some arrangements to cover up the mistakes, let the leaders only look at the good side, and conceal the real situation.After the failure of the Great Revolution in 1927, Chen Yun once engaged in the peasant movement here. Two members of the working group also participated in the work at that time.

Here, Chen Yun listened to two reports from the commune party committee and held ten symposiums. Some of these symposiums were mainly to investigate farmers, and some were to exchange opinions with the commune party committee.He himself went to farmers' homes several times to observe their pig raising, private plots, housing and food. Finally, Chen Yun sorted out the problems found in this investigation and some suggestions, and wrote a letter to Deng Xiaoping, General Secretary of the Central Committee.In his letter, Chen Yun summarized the opinions of the masses that he had learned this time into four points. First, there is not enough food to eat; The central government blindly directs and does not conduct self-criticism to the masses; fourth, the collective production is not organized well, and the enthusiasm of the farmers is low. On the contrary, they are highly enthusiastic about private plots and sideline production.Attached are three special investigation reports of this Qingpu rural survey: "Sows should also be sent to farmers for private rearing", "Planting double-cropping rice is worse than planting broad beans and single-cropping rice" and "Reserving enough private plots according to central regulations."

At the meeting of 7,000 people, when Liu Shaoqi summed up the difficult situation of the past few years, he pointed out that the formula of "nine fingers and one finger" should not be copied everywhere.The problems learned by Chen Yun in this investigation also highlighted some inadaptations in agricultural collective management (such as specialization of cadres, crop arrangement, production organization), and some advantages of farmers’ individual management (such as raising pigs, private plots, etc.) ).These questions cannot but lead to Chen Yun's further thinking: In such a difficult period, can we find a way to give full play to the enthusiasm of farmers' self-employment, so as to develop production and solve the food problem?

After serving in the Central Finance and Economics Leading Group, Chen Yun proposed that the whole party should study agricultural issues, and he took the lead in researching and thinking about this issue first.He went to Hangzhou and Shanghai to recuperate, and he was still thinking about how to rescue the farmers who were short of food and how to speed up the restoration of food production.He was very interested in the practice of contracting production to households in Anhui and other places at that time. At the turn of spring and summer in 1962, Chen Yun was recuperating in Shanghai and Hangzhou. He also read the materials on responsible farming in Anhui and attached great importance to it. He believed that the method of restoring agricultural production was the same as what he had seen and imagined in the countryside.He pointed out that this is an extraordinary measure in extraordinary times.

At this time, Mao Zedong's secretary Tian Jiaying sent him a report on his investigation in Hunan. The peasants there also had a strong desire for this method, and they came to similar conclusions.Chen Yun praised the report as "clear."But after hearing Tian Jiaying's oral report, Mao Zedong said: "We are going to follow the mass line, but sometimes we can't completely listen to the masses. For example, we can't listen to the household contracting." Mao Zedong held a negative attitude towards this, and Chen Yun planned to make a direct statement to him on this issue.He told some leading cadres about this plan, and they advised him to think carefully and not rush to propose it.Obviously, although Mao Zedong agreed to adjust and make some partial changes to the "Great Leap Forward" and the idea of ​​people's communes and a set of policies, he did not give up. For example, he proposed plans such as "contracting production to households", which is expected to be difficult for him to accept.

But Chen Yun's attitude is also very firm when he sees things right.He said: I am responsible for the leadership of the national economic work, and I must be responsible to the party and the people.Now that this matter has been identified and a solution has been found, whether it is mentioned or not, whether it is changed or not, is related to the reputation of the party and the support of the people, how can we delay the opportunity! On June 24, Chen Yun returned to Beijing from Shanghai, and immediately exchanged views with comrades on the Standing Committee of the Central Committee, and the views were basically the same. On July 6, Chen Yun wrote to Mao Zedong, who had just returned to Beijing from a field inspection that morning, saying: "I have thought about some ideas on how to restore agriculture, and I hope to have a discussion with you. I think one hour is enough. I can Now that I'm on my way, I can come to you."

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Mao Zedong asked Chen Yun to talk for more than an hour. Chen Yun mainly explained that self-employment and cooperative groups should coexist in rural my country for a long period of time.It is suggested to use the method of re-dividing fields to stimulate farmers' production enthusiasm and solve the current difficulties in agricultural production.At that time, Mao Zedong did not express his opinion. A few days later, Mao Zedong said at a small-scale meeting that he strongly disagreed with Chen Yun's opinion.But Chen Yun is a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee, and he expressed his opinions to the party chairman, so there is nothing wrong with the organization.He also severely criticized Deng Zihui and Tian Jiaying, saying that their advocacy of "dividing the land and doing it alone" is to disintegrate the rural collective economy and dissolve the people's communes. It is a Chinese-style revisionism and it is a matter of which road to take. The question was raised so high that those who heard it were shocked.After hearing this, Chen Yun had a deep attitude and remained silent for a long time.He only told the staff around him that this was only based on the results of the survey in his hometown, and he felt that he was more motivated to do it personally. This is an extraordinary method in an extraordinary period. In early August, on the first day of the Beidaihe Conference, Mao Zedong delivered a speech on the situation, contradictions and class struggle, and the atmosphere at the meeting suddenly became tense.During the half-month meeting, they focused on criticizing the ideas of "opposing the people's communes", engaging in "household contracting of production" and "doing it alone", and criticized the so-called "reversal wind" and "dark wind". Although Chen Yun was not criticized by name at this meeting, everyone who knew the situation clearly knew that Chen Yun was one of the targets of criticism.Since then, as the domestic political atmosphere has become increasingly severe, Chen Yun's situation has become more difficult, and for a long time, he has actually been "stand aside".