Chapter 17 Chapter 25 1958: Catching up with the Premier League and the United States

In the memory of the poet Bei Dao, in the spring of 1958 he was playing mahjong excitedly. "In the spring of 1958, almost all the citizens of Beijing were involved in the battle of mahjong. The school was on holiday, and I was on my balcony from morning till night, knocking on broken washbasins and empty biscuit barrels. For three days and three nights, the whole of Beijing fell into madness. , waving the flag, shaking the sky, day and night. My voice is hoarse, my eyes are red, and my arms are sore and sore. But for a child who is not yet nine years old, it is the greatest carnival imaginable. Because The sparrows had nowhere to settle, and finally fell to the ground due to exhaustion, hunger and thirst. According to statistics, more than 400,000 sparrows were wiped out in the Beijing area alone.”

Like 8-year-old Bei Dao, Ba Jin, the famous writer who wrote the trilogy of , , , and , was also knocking on the copper basin on the grass all day. He drove the sparrows on the tree profusely, and wrote seriously A new poem with rhyme: "Rats are evil, sparrows are bad, flies and mosquitoes are like rightists. They suck people's blood, attract diseases, steal people's happiness and destroy them. Thousands of households are quick to get rid of the four evils by beating drums and gold." The reason why the sparrow has become a "public enemy" is because people believe that it is the chief culprit of eating food. On April 20, "People's Daily" reported under the title "The People's Capital Does Not Allow Sparrows to Survive", "From 5 o'clock in the morning on the 19th, the capital set up a net to encircle and suppress the harmful bird - the sparrow. The 3 million people in the city fought all day The results were brilliant. As of 10 pm on the 19th, according to incomplete statistics, a total of 8.3249 sparrows were exhausted, poisoned, and killed in the city.” The report concluded, “After evening, the youth commando went to the woods, city walls, and eaves Digging nests, blocking nests, and catching sparrows. The people of the whole city are raising fine animals to welcome a new day of fighting."

Three million people in the capital of a country are playing mahjong together in high spirits. This is probably an unprecedented record.This year, more than 210 million sparrows were killed nationwide.In the spring of the following year, the leaves on both sides of the streets in Beijing, Shanghai and other big cities were almost eaten up by pests, and people stopped killing sparrows. What makes people sigh is that in the "earth-shattering" 1958, killing sparrows by the whole people was not the most absurd thing. Mao Zedong proposed that the important indicator of surpassing the United Kingdom in 15 years was calculated by steel output-he invented the term "Steel Marshal" and changed the idiom "Gang Ju Mu Zhang" to "Gang Ju Mu Zhang".During his stay in Moscow, he talked with the leaders of the British Communist Party, Portland and Gao Lan, and learned that in another 15 years, Britain's steel production can increase from the current 20 million tons to 30 million tons, and according to the plan, China will take another 15 years. It can reach 40 million tons.Based on this, he publicly stated at the representative meetings of the Communist Party and Workers' Parties of various countries that China has 5.2 million tons of steel this year, and in another five years, it can reach 10 million to 15 million tons of steel, and in 15 years, it can reach 35 million to 30 million tons. 40 million tons of steel.

Surpassing the United Kingdom in 15 years is already a catch-up goal that surprised the whole world, but only 4 months later, this timetable was shortened to 7 years, and after another 2 months, it was shortened to 2 years.This is the story of the Great Leap Forward that happened in 1958.Its catch-up process is as follows: First, from a political perspective, "unified" thinking.Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun and others have repeatedly expressed their concerns about the aggressive economic advancement. Zhou Enlai asked the leaders of various places to "wash with cold water, and they may become more sober." The year after and the year after the year are even more dangerous.” In January 1958, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a meeting in Nanning, Mao Zedong said in a speech, don’t mention the term anti-aggression, this is a political issue, if you go against it, you will be discouraged, and once 600 million people are discouraged Very angry.These are political issues, not business issues.He also directly named Zhou Enlai and said, "Aren't you anti-adventurous? I am anti-aggressive!" At the Nanning meeting, Zhou, Chen and others all made self-criticisms.From then on, no one in the party dared to mention anti-aggression.

On December 2, "People's Daily" published an editorial titled "Our Slogan for Action - Oppose Waste, Build the Country with Diligence and Thrift", and put forward the slogan of "Comprehensive Great Leap Forward" for the national economy for the first time, saying that "our country is now facing a The situation of the Great Leap Forward in the whole country requires a Great Leap Forward in industrial construction and industrial production, a Great Leap Forward in agricultural production, and a Great Leap Forward in cultural, educational and health undertakings.”

Prior to this, the State Economic Commission had completed the national economic plan for this year, and the total industrial output value was planned to be 64.37 billion yuan, an increase of 14.6% over the previous year, of which the steel index was 6.248 million tons, an increase of 19.2% over the 5.35 million tons in 1957.Encouraged by the Great Leap Import slogan, the Economic Commission urgently made the "Opinions on the Second Account of the 1958 Plan and Budget" in April, which greatly increased the indicators. The industrial output value increased to 90.38 billion yuan, an increase of 33%. Steel was 7 million tons, an increase of 35.5%.

However, this account was still unsatisfactory, and then there was a third account, and the steel target was set at 10.7 million tons, which is equivalent to doubling.In the "Sixty Articles of Working Methods (Draft)", it is clearly required that "the production plan has three books, and the central government has two books. One is not published. Local governments also have two accounts. The first local account is the second account of the central government, which must be completed in the local area; standards.” Such a requirement opened up an important gap in the plan’s layer-by-layer increase. The central government took the lead in setting up two accounts, and all levels set up their own two accounts. When the account is settled, the top wants to drum it up, and the bottom one chases it down, and the drums chase it down, and naturally the wind and clouds will surge.

Mao Zedong seems to be obsessed with this kind of numbers game. On April 15, he wrote smugly, "We can catch up with Britain in 10 years, and catch up with the United States in another 10 years, say 25 years or more. , is to leave room for 5 to 7 years.” On May 7, he made a speech at the National People’s Congress, proposing that the development speed of our steel production should exceed the speed of the Soviet Union in the past. On May 18, in the comments of "The humble are the smartest, and the noble are the most stupid", it clearly stated that "the United Kingdom will catch up with the United Kingdom in 7 years, and the United States will catch up with the United States in 8 or 10 years." It is loudly abbreviated as "catching up with the Premier League and the United States".

It is one thing to write economic indicators on paper and talk about it, but it is another thing to complete the facts.To double the output of steel every year, it is difficult to rely solely on the central enterprises. In the excited atmosphere of the anti-rightists and the Great Leap Forward, no one dared to raise objections and doubts, so the experts from the Economic Commission had no choice but to continue Use your brains, the economic train is forced to speed up.Soon, a copy of "Some Ideas for Making Small and Medium Factories Bloom Everywhere" was submitted to the Central Economic Work Conference for discussion.This document provides some specific measures: First, in every county with coal resources, each county should build at least one small coal kiln, one small cement kiln, one small oil refinery, one small power station, etc. The total investment in these basic industries is no more than 7.4 million to 21.65 million yuan, and the gross production value of them can exceed 4 million yuan a year after they are completed, and the full investment can be recovered in about two to three years.Second, those counties with iron ore resources can build at least one small blast furnace with an annual output of 400-500 tons. The investment is only 8,000 to 10,000 yuan. It will be completed in two months, and the full investment can be recovered in half a year.The third is that in counties with copper mines, at least one small copper mine with an annual output of 30 tons can be built with an investment of only 8,000 yuan and can be completed in half a year.In addition, some counties can build small oil mills, small sugar factories, small paper mills, small textile factories and other small factories for rural sideline processing based on local agricultural and sideline raw material resources.In short, whatever resources are available, any industry should be established, and there should be no gaps in every county.

According to this line of thinking, there was an upsurge of large-scale industrial establishments in various places. On April 30, the "People's Daily" reported on the scene of various places under the headline "National People Run Industries, Factories and Mines in Urban and Rural Areas". 2,068 small and medium-sized factories and mines have been built in Yunnan in the past three months, and more than 10 small factories and mines have been built in more than 100 counties in the province. The total investment has increased by 90% compared with last year.In the four provinces of Liaoning, Henan, Zhejiang and Guangdong, 15,000 small and medium-sized factories and mines were newly built.

Such a scene of "people's war" naturally makes people have endless associations. On June 18, in a conversation, Mao Zedong said to Bo Yibo that now there is a way for agriculture, which is called "taking grain as the key link and developing in an all-round way", what about your industry?Without thinking too much, Bo replied that the industry should "take steel as the key link and drive everything"!Mao Zedong said, yes, just do it like this.Three days later, the Ministry of Metallurgy submitted the "Steel Production Plan" to the central government, proposing that next year's steel production could exceed 30 million tons, and that in 1962 it might strive for 80 to 90 million tons.On the same day, Mao Zedong said in his speech at the enlarged meeting of the Military Commission that we have basically surpassed the United Kingdom in three years and the United States in ten years, and we are fully sure.There were violent and sustained applause and cheers at the scene. In just another day, the catch-up time shortened again. On June 22, Mao Zedong instructed in a report outline, "Catch up with Britain, not 15 years, not 7 years, only 2 to 3 years, two years is possible. Here is mainly steel. As long as 1959 If it reaches 25 million tons, we will surpass Britain in steel production." He revised the title of the report outline, changing the main title to "Overtaking Britain in Two Years", and the subtitle is "Report of the Party Group of the State Economic Commission to the Politburo". At the decision-making level, some people have doubts about such a goal.Xue Muqiao recalled that once, he went to see Chen Yun with Song Shaowen, the deputy director of the economic committee, and hoped that he could talk to Mao Zedong about his views on the "Great Leap Forward". , If you don’t suffer a little bit, you can’t listen to these words.” On July 31, Khrushchev, leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, visited China.Mao Zedong told him that China will produce 10.7 million tons of steel this year and 25 to 30 million tons next year.Hearst has worked in technology and has experience in large-scale industrial construction. China's industrial foundation was built with the help of the Soviet Union. Naturally, he couldn't hide how rich he was.He heard that steel production would double in a year, but of course he didn't believe it. He replied in diplomatic terms, "We believe that the plan proposed by the Chinese comrades can probably be completed." What conditions, what is the specific situation, he will not ask again. Accompanying him on the visit was Arkhipov, the general counsel of the Soviet Aid to China expert group. During a banquet, Chen Yun asked this old friend in a private conversation, "Look at our steel production plan for next year, can it be completed? "Ashi didn't answer directly, but just smiled and said, "It's a big plan, a great plan, and it's good to be able to complete 80% or 90% of it." When the banquet was over, Ashi and Bo Yibo left. Together, they gave a clear opinion, "Your plan is too high, I'm afraid it won't be realized." Bo Yibo said, we have the mass line, adding local methods of iron and steel, the plan will definitely be realized.Ashi said with a wry smile, "It is useless to make more steel by local methods." After Khrushchev and his party left, on August 17, the main leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China went to Beidaihe for a collective summer vacation, where an enlarged meeting of the Politburo was held.At the meeting, the Economic Commission presented the economic data for the first half of the year, and the steel output was only 3.7 million tons, far from the target of 10.7 million tons.Mao Zedong was very anxious. He especially emphasized that steel indicators are a political task, and even one ton less will do!He issued an eight-point instruction, which required the party committees of all provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions to focus on iron and steel production once a week, and to have iron discipline. Those who failed to complete the production and allocation tasks were given warnings, demerits, dismissal and retention, stay in the party for inspection, and dismissal according to the situation. and expulsion from the party.He also ordered the secretaries in charge of industry in all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions to come to Beidaihe immediately to hold a meeting of industry secretaries. On August 25th, the meeting of industrial secretaries opened. Bo Yibo conveyed Mao Zedong’s instructions, “You must have confidence in earthen stoves and not be discouraged. Even if there is only one out of 100 earthen stoves, it is good, even if it is plugged in. The other 99 should learn from it.” A few days later, on the afternoon of the 30th, Bo Yibo led the industrial secretaries of major steel producing areas and the party secretaries of several large steel plants such as Anshan Iron and Steel, Wuhan Iron and Steel, and Taiyuan Iron and Steel. , went to Mao Zedong's residence, and vouched for him face to face. Mao Zedong checked with the participants one by one: 1070, is that okay? First, I asked Ma Tianshui, the deputy mayor of Shanghai, if it was okay, and Ma Tianshui said yes.Then I asked Zhao Min, secretary of the Anshan Municipal Party Committee, if it was okay, and Zhao Min said yes.I also asked the city party secretaries and industry secretaries of Wuhan, Taiyuan, Chongqing, Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, and Ma'anshan, is it okay?The answer is both, yes.Asked about Liu Bin, vice minister of the Ministry of Metallurgy, Mao Zedong said, "It's up to you to make up your mind." Liu replied, "Yes, we have done the calculations." Asked about Yuan Baohua, Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Metallurgy, "Do you often contact the grassroots? Yes, are you sure about it?” Yuan replied, “The production of the metallurgical industry has 10 links, from mining, smelting, rolling to machine repair, transportation, etc. We have set up 10 red flags, and only 10 red flags can stand. I think there is hope that their experience can be promoted.” Asked about Wang Heshou, Minister of the Ministry of Metallurgy, he said, “As long as the chairman makes up his mind, we can mobilize the power of the whole country to achieve this goal. We believe that this goal can be achieved. of." In the end, I asked Bo Yibo, and Bo came up with a desperate idea, "I suggest that 1070 be published in the newspaper. After it is published, everyone will see it, and they will work hard without hesitation." Mao said, this is a good idea. Although all the generals have issued military orders, Mao Zedong is still a little worried. After all, there are only four months left and only one third of the task is completed.He read an ancient poem, "The setting sun is infinitely beautiful, but it is only near dusk." He reminded everyone present, "The steel is not yet finished, and comrades still have to work hard." After talking with the industrial secretaries, Mao Zedong said to Chen Yun: 1070 seems to be okay.Chen Yun brought Wang Heshou and Yuan Baohua over for a talk, and he said, "What's the matter? You can give me a detailed account. Chairman Mao can't do a detailed account. You can calculate a detailed account with me." Yuan and Wang Immediately calculated the figures carefully, how much can be produced from the existing foundation, how much can be produced from the new small blast furnace, and all production capacities have been discounted.Calculating all the way down like this, even the cautious Chen Yun felt that there seemed to be hope. On September 1, the Beidaihe meeting passed the communiqué "Calling the whole party and the whole people to strive for the production of 10.7 million tons of steel". , Four days later, he published an editorial "All-out Guarantee of Steel Production", calling on departments not directly related to steel production to "stop and give way." In this way, a national steelmaking climax was set off.Hundreds of thousands of small blast furnaces have been built all over the country, and people smelt steel day and night with great enthusiasm. Many people donated their iron pots, basins, and iron doorknobs at home and poured them into the fiery furnace.From the newspapers of that year, the unimaginable frenzy can still be read. The "People's Daily" on August 22 published a very lyrical feature: Under the moonlight, there is a jingle.I walked through several streets and alleys in one breath, and saw every family smashing bowls.I asked an old man, "Why are you knocking here?" The old man replied, "It's making refractory bricks!" After that, he pointed his finger at the red slogan under the moonlight, and read word by word: "The whole party and the whole people do it!" Build a big iron and steel industry!" The old man went on to say, "We plan to build 300 blast furnaces in Taizhou City, and all the iron will be tapped within 20 days! Refractory bricks are needed to build blast furnaces, and now we plan to hand over 6 catties of broken bowl pieces I knocked out fine powder, but I knocked out 20 catties in the first four days alone. My little grandson and I are going to fight for 60 catties!" The old man stopped for a while, turned his face and asked, "Xiao Niu, what are you doing?" Can you guarantee it?" The calf who was sifting the powder next to him shouted loudly, "Grandpa, you can guarantee it!" The Worker’s Daily reported on September 28, “The No. 2 Steel Plant of Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. launched a high-yield satellite, and nine open hearth furnaces smelted 7,030 tons of steel a day.” Their experience was that “the workers braved the high temperature to blow compressed steel into the furnace during the melting time. Stir the air back and forth with a big iron to increase the temperature.” There are only 20 molten steel tanks in the factory, and nine furnaces of steel are produced in one shift, which requires 27 tanks. Jumping into the flaming steel tank, the heat-resistant clothing was roasted and smoked, the soles of the shoes were burned, and the sweat was flowing. They desperately carried out emergency repairs, which shortened the repair time from one hour to more than 20 minutes. Open hearth production.Yuan Zhen, manager of Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., also wrote a poem "If you have the guts, you will be productive." Comrades, if you have six thousand, you will not worry about seven thousand; if you have seven thousand, you will definitely get eight thousand; Therefore, the high-yield models are called "satellite release". "Guangming Daily" reported on the upsurge of steelmaking in the education sector. It reported on October 4 that Kaifeng Teachers College and Henan Medical College suspended steelmaking and fought fiercely day and night. It took only 24 hours to refine 17 tons of high-quality steel. Professor Wen Chuanlie was asked to carry out the broken coal stove used for cooking at home to support steelmaking. Others said that he was too old to warm up in winter. He firmly said, "Keeping up with a fire is a small matter, but making steel is a big thing. On the 23rd, the newspaper reported that the teachers and students of Sichuan Agricultural College, under the slogan of "every second counts, every catty must be caught", rummaged through the things in the unit and their own homes, and donated "scrap iron and copper" in a week. 12 tons and a half. On the 26th, it was also reported that 12 primary schools in the Xigong District of Luoyang City jointly set up a Red Scarf Iron and Steel Plant, which had three melting furnaces, ten ladles, fourteen small-scale indigenous steelmaking furnaces, and two 0.5-meter converters. , It can produce 40 tons of steel per day, and more than 4,700 primary school teachers and students have participated in the steelmaking work.Primary school students study for half a day and make steel for half a day. Students in the lower grades from seven to nine years old participate in labor such as picking up scrap iron, digging out iron sand, picking up firewood, and picking up vat tiles. Oxygen and other labor, the older ones carry ladles, forge, enamel the stove, etc. The 14-year-old Young Pioneer Bai Chunxiang also became the deputy director of the oxygen blowing steelmaking workshop. China Youth Daily reported on October 20 that Luzhai County, Guangxi released the country's largest pig iron satellite.This county produced 207,243 tons of pig iron and 288,139 tons of sintered iron in one day, which is equal to the annual task assigned by the state to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region this year.In order to release such a large and high-yield satellite, 110,000 "Steel Field Army" rushed to the front line in the county, and also received strong support from 27,000 people in four neighboring counties.Its main experience is to concentrate the wisdom of the masses, transform small iron-making kilns into large ones, and make extensive use of old brick kilns, lime kilns, gun towers, blockhouses, etc. to make iron. "Tianjin Daily" reported on October 31 that a small earthen furnace was built in the city's Hedong Hospital. Amid the jubilant sound of gongs and drums, more than 150 white-clothed soldiers launched a fierce battle to win the steel. Young female nurses formed They hired a steel transportation team, and they transported more than 20 tons of scrap iron overnight from a place more than ten miles away.The doctors were busy around the steelmaking furnace. Some of them inserted iron brazing into the furnace to stir, and some forged with a sledgehammer. Those who stayed in the department put down their stethoscopes whenever they had free time, and picked up stethoscopes weighing more than 20 kilograms. Sledgehammer to smash steel. People of later generations, reading this, you may be laughing, but there may be tears in your eyes. On December 5, the "People's Daily" sent good news that the large-scale steel smelting had won a decisive victory. By the end of November, the national steel output had reached 9.69 million tons, and the realization of the grand goal of 10.7 million tons was just around the corner. Shanxi, Henan, Shandong , Hunan and other provinces have exceeded their full-year plans ahead of schedule. In January 1959, the Ministry of Metallurgy announced that in the great campaign of national steelmaking, steel output reached a record 11.08 million tons, exceeding an impossible task. However, behind this number, a series of extremely heavy facts are hidden. First of all, a considerable proportion of the 11.08 million tons of steel was smelted in small blast furnaces using local methods, of which more than 3 million tons were useless steel scrap.According to a document, 40% to 50% of the more than 9 million tons of pig iron smelted from small blast furnaces have a sulfur content exceeding the 0.2% standard set by the Ministry of Metallurgy. These pig irons cannot be used for casting or rolled after steelmaking. into useful steel. Secondly, the national steelmaking not only interrupts normal economic activities, but also seriously damages the ecological environment.Institutions, factories, mines, and schools all set up iron-smelting furnaces.Someone recalled the scene of the big iron and steel smelting in Henan Province: At night, at an iron smelting site, there were huge crowds of people, and the fire was shining in the sky. People stayed up all night and worked hard.In order to smelt iron, all the trees on the mountain were cut down, and the iron pots in the homes of the masses were put into the iron smelting furnace. During the harvest season, 90 million young and strong laborers went up to the mountain to smelt iron. The crops that had been planted for a year had no time to harvest and rotted. in the ground.In the end, what was smelted in the small blast furnace turned out to be unusable "sponge iron". Third, one-sided emphasis on "small soil groups" - small blast furnaces, indigenous steelmaking and mass movements, claiming that "the more soil the better" and "mainly the soil".Wuhan Iron and Steel Works does not use modern equipment, and also sets up small soil groups all over the factory area, pursuing the "Great Leap Forward" in production.All the big iron and steel plants are trying their best to increase production, regardless of quality, accelerated wear and tear of equipment and energy consumption.In order to save money quickly, some factory buildings have not even laid a good foundation, so they havetily started to make iron and steel.Some steelmaking workshops with an annual output of 50,000 tons also use brick and wood structures, even ignoring the basic procedures of survey and design.In the second half of the year alone, 435 people died of accidents in the construction engineering system. Fourth, due to steelmaking by the whole people, the labor force has been unprecedentedly tense. Since August, people from rural areas have been recruited into cities rapidly. By the end of the year, the number of employees in enterprises and state agencies across the country reached 45.32 million, an increase of 2,082 million compared with the end of the previous year. 10,000 people, of which 11.04 million were recruited from rural areas.There were so many more people in the city at once, and the food supply immediately became severe, while the productivity of the countryside declined at the same time, which became one of the causes of the subsequent great famine. Blind optimism and aggressive strategies have caused a serious waste of national power.At the Second Session of the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in May, the general line of "go all out, strive for the top, and build socialism more quickly, better and more economically" was adopted, and it was proposed that China is now in a great period of "one day equals twenty years". Apart from iron and steel, all other industries have also proposed the goal of the Great Leap Forward. The machinery sector proposed an average annual increase of 50% during the Second Five-Year Plan. The railway sector proposed to "run the railways by the whole people" and build 30,000 kilometers of railways in the next five years. In 1958, the constructive investment at the central and provincial levels alone reached 23.5 billion yuan, a sharp increase of 87% over the previous year, almost half of the "First Five-Year Plan", and 700 large and medium-sized factories and mines were completed throughout the year , there is one every 12 hours on average, and local small and medium-sized factories are springing up like mushrooms after rain.Due to the extremely low investment efficiency, more than half of the national power that had been accumulated was consumed for no reason, causing financial tension. In September of this year, Gu Zhun, who was labeled as a rightist for writing articles, was sent to Zanhuang County, Hebei Province for labor reform, where he participated in a large-scale indigenous iron-making movement.In an account ten years later, he described, "I have no confidence in the local method of iron-making. A young comrade went to Shijiazhuang to learn about underground iron-making furnaces. When he came back, he taught everyone to dig furnaces according to the furnace method in Shijiazhuang. After he told about the style and digging method of the furnace, I asked about the size and detailed specifications, but he didn't give a detailed answer, and after he said that it almost didn't matter, I lost my temper, saying how can this be regarded as teaching advanced methods, etc. .Actually, I didn't lose my temper with this comrade, but with the fundamental policy of making iron for all. Another time, when I was carrying coke with another comrade, I complained about creating a little What is extremely enjoyable, but this kind of labor is useless at all. I clearly know that the national steelmaking is a great decision made by Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee, and has extremely great political significance, but I use economic calculations instead of political ones... " In the extremely absurd year of 1958, neither killing sparrows by the whole people nor making steel by the whole people was not the whole of the absurdity.When the industrial field is in chaos and busy, in the vast rural areas of China, 500 million Chinese farmers are doing three things: large-scale steelmaking, "satellite satellites" and marching collectively into the people's communes with the illusion of free meals. The scene of large-scale iron and steel smelting has been described above. Millions of small blast furnaces have been set up in the north and south of the river. Amid the cheers, furnaces of useless "sponge iron" were smelted. "Launching satellites" is a new invention to increase food production.In the atmosphere of the Great Leap Forward, the grain and cotton indicators also increased. In 1957, the grain output was 370 billion catties, and the cotton was 32.8 million dans. At the beginning, the grain indicators in 1958 were initially set at 392 billion catties, and the cotton was 35 million dans. When the iron and steel index doubled, the grain index also rose to 800 billion catties, and the cotton index jumped to 67 million tons, more than double the previous year. If the 10.7 million tons of steel quota can be barely "completed" through the general mobilization of the whole people—even though the steel produced is scrap steel, at least there are still things piled up there, then the grain quota can only be "completed" by cheating . As early as December 25, 1957, the first "high-yield model" appeared. "People's Daily" reported that Chenghai County in Shantou District, Guangdong Province announced that it had achieved a yield of 1,257 jin per mu.A few days later, Cang County in Hebei Province claimed that their mu yield had reached 1,500 jin.By the end of the summer harvest in 1958, high-yield records in various places were constantly being refreshed: On June 8, Suiping County, Henan Province announced that the wheat yield per mu was 2,105 jin.Four days later, the county announced that the yield per mu had increased to 3,530 catties. On June 12, the "People's Daily" reported that the Chayashan Satellite Collective Farm in Suiping County had achieved a wheat yield of 3,520 jin per mu. The headline of the news was "Satellite Agricultural Society Launches Second Satellite".This is the first time the high-yielding term "satellite launch" has appeared. Anyone with a little bit of agricultural knowledge probably has some basic common sense about how much grain one mu of land can produce. Most of the leaders of New China were born in rural areas and have been engaged in military activities in the countryside for a long time. "Satellite" does not produce doubts?This is a topic worthy of study.But what happened in 1958 was that almost everyone believed it. Just four days after the Chaya Mountain Satellite Collective Farm released the "satellite", Qian Xuesen, the most famous scientist in China and director of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, published "How much grain will be produced per mu?" "The article, a detailed and "scientific" argument said: "Now let's do the math: take 30% of the solar energy that hits an acre of land every year as the part that plants can use, and plants use 30% of the solar energy." % Manufacture the carbon dioxide and water in the air into nutrients, one-fifth of which can be regarded as edible grain, then the output per mu of rice and wheat is not the current two or three thousand catties, but more than 20 times that of more than 2,000 catties! This is not Empty talk." In another article "Mechanical Problems in Agriculture——The Yield of Ten Thousand Catties per Mu Is Not a Problem" published in the magazine "Knowledge is Power", Qian Xuesen further made a more detailed calculation from the perspective of mechanics: " We calculated that the sunlight falling on one mu of land in a year is equivalent to about 940,000 catties of carbohydrates. If the efficiency of plants using sunlight is really 100%, then the annual dry matter production per unit area should be this number, 940,000 jin! Naturally, the efficiency of using sunlight by the leaves of higher plants cannot be 100%, and the highest estimate is only 1/6. That is to say, the annual output of dry matter per unit area is about 156,000 jin. The accumulated material is only a part of the grain, and the grain weight of crops such as rice and wheat accounts for about half of the weight. Therefore, according to this calculation, the annual grain output per unit area should be 78,000 catties. This means that the whole There are 365 days of sunshine in a year. If 25% is lost due to cloudy days, then the grain yield per mu should be 58,500 jin. This means that crops must grow throughout the year, if only in the warm season , maybe another 2/3 discount is required, then the average yield per mu is 39,000 jin.” Qian Xuesen's thesis provided sufficient "scientific proof" for large-scale satellite launch in various places, and deeply influenced the highest decision-making. (On July 11, 1959, during the Lushan Conference, Mao Zedong said in a night talk with Zhou Xiaozhou, Li Rui and others, "Dare to think and dare to do it. The second meeting of the Eighth National Congress is the peak. There are also Qian Xuesen's articles. The good news keeps coming. Of course I think about it.” It can be seen that Qian Wen’s influence on decision makers.) It was after these articles were published that the “food satellite” suddenly increased from a few thousand catties per mu to tens of thousands of catties.Many years later, Peking University professor Ji Xianlin recalled: "I firmly believed. In my heart, I still secretly laughed at those 'cowards' who 'did not emancipate their minds'. I felt that I was the only horse, and I was the only one." On July 12, the Heping Agricultural Cooperative of Xiping County, which is adjacent to Suiping County, announced a high wheat yield of 7,320 catties, more than double that of the "satellite" of Chaya Mountain, which shocked the whole country for a while.A reporter from Xinhua News Agency vividly described in the press release: The two acres of wheat grow very well, with large and long ears, full grains, and uniform density, with an average of 1,486,200 plants per mu, so dense that even mice cannot get into the ground.The largest ear of wheat has 130 grains, the average ear of wheat has 70 to 80 grains, and the smallest ear of wheat has about 50 grains.The two acres of wheat were harvested on June 18 and weighed and put into the warehouse on July 1.Those in charge of the Chengguan Town Committee of the Communist Party of China and the party and government of Xiping County also participated in the harvesting, beating, lifting, and weighing.In order to further verify the output, the Henan Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China instructed the Xiping County Party Committee and the Chengguan Town Party Committee to re-examine.In the end, it was proved that the high yield was completely true. Thirty years later, the person concerned recalled the real situation—— When Suiping County, adjacent to Xiping, released a "satellite" with a wheat yield of 3,520 jin per mu, the secretary of the Xinyang Prefectural Party Committee (Xinping belongs to Xinyang area, now belongs to Zhumadian City) told the secretary of the Xiping County Party Committee that the conditions in Xiping were better than those in Suiping. The yield per mu must exceed Suiping.According to the instructions of the leaders of the prefectural committee, the Xiping County Party Committee held a four-level cadre meeting, and the central topic was to solve the problem of high wheat yield figures.At the meeting, the leaders of the county party committee asked the agricultural cooperatives to self-report their output.At the beginning, the yield of 200 catties per mu was reported, and the leaders of the county party committee were very dissatisfied with this.As a result, 400, 600, and 800 catties were reported one after another, but they were still far from Suiping's 3,520 catties, and they were not approved by the leaders of the county party committee.The secretary of the county party committee repeatedly introduced the high-yield "experience" of Suiping's wheat yield of 3,520 jin per mu, and talked about the truth that "the higher the thought, the higher the output".Even so, the agricultural cooperatives still dare not report higher.Therefore, the leaders of the county party committee adopted the method of individual agitation, holding a symposium with the heads of the two agricultural cooperatives, Heping and Mengjin, which had higher output in the past, and mobilized these two cooperatives to report their output.At the beginning, the Mengjin Society only reported 300 catties, and the leaders of the county party committee sat aside and said nothing.The heads of the two agricultural cooperatives saw that the atmosphere was not right, so they continued to report higher yields, and the Mengjin cooperative reported a yield of 7,201 catties per mu.At this time, the secretary of the Chengguan Town Party Committee where the Peace Society was located immediately encouraged the Peace Society to report a higher price.In this case, the president of the Peace Society reported 7,320 catties.In this way, the symposium is considered to be over. Immediately afterwards, the Heping Agricultural Cooperative began to find the "basis" for the yield of 7,320 catties per mu. The method was to calculate the number of grains, ears, and grains of wheat. How many ears are there in one ear? Finally, it is calculated that there are 1,486,200 ears in one mu of land, with an average of 75 ears in each ear, and more than 7,560 catties can be harvested.Afterwards, the Heping Society organized a strong labor force from the whole society, set up two carts, and brought 14,640 catties of wheat (7,320 catties per mu on average) from the 12 production teams of the whole society. , The county party committee organized the "acceptance" again.Subsequently, newspapers such as "Henan Daily" and "People's Daily" successively reported the news that the Heping Society's wheat yield per mu was 7,320 catties, and thus attracted visitors from 24 provinces and cities across the country. The government of Czechoslovakia and Czechoslovakia also wrote a special letter, requesting relevant parties in China to introduce the experience of "high harvest" of wheat in Xiping County.The tragedy of history is that Xinyang, Henan Province, which continuously set the record of high grain production in the country, starved to death millions of people in the subsequent "three-year natural disaster" period, becoming one of the areas with the highest number of abnormal deaths in the country. The Heping Agricultural Society did not have a good time for a long time, and a new "satellite" surpassed it in a long time. On August 1, the "People's Daily" reported that the early rice yield per mu of Changfeng Society in Xiaogan County, Hubei Province reached 15,361 catties. The "satellite" was placed so high that even Mao Zedong wanted to see what happened. From August 4th to 13th, he left Beijing to inspect the three provinces of Hebei, Henan, and Shandong. Wherever he went, officials at the provincial, county, and agricultural cooperatives reported that the grain yield per mu was doubling and tenfold. increase.The secretary of the county party committee in Anguo County reported that the per capita grain production was 4,000 catties. The director of an agricultural cooperative in Licheng, Shandong reported that in the past, only two to three hundred catties could be produced per mu, but now it has reached 20,000 catties per mu, and next year it will strive for 40,000 catties.毛泽东兴致勃勃地听着这些汇报，他还戴上草帽，亲自到丰收的农田去查看。站在麦穗摇荡的田野里，眼前的种种景象在告诉他，中国的粮食难题真的解决了。 在河北徐水县视察时，县委书记张国忠汇报说：今年全县夏收两季一共计划要拿到12亿斤粮食，平均每亩产2千斤。毛泽东问：“你们全县31万人口，怎么吃得完那么粮食啊！你们粮食多了怎么办？”张国忠答道：“我们粮食多了换机器。”毛泽东说：“不光是你们粮食多，哪一个县粮食都多！你换机器，人家不要你的粮食呀！”旁边有人说：“我们拿山药造酒精。”毛泽东说：“那就是每个县都造酒精，哪里用得了那么多酒精啊！”张国忠很憨厚地回答说：“我们只是光考虑怎么多打粮食。”就是在这样的对答中，毛泽东开始认真地思考这个新冒出来的问题：“粮食多了怎么办？” 就当毛泽东回到北京的当天，湖北麻城县又放出了颗大“卫星”。《人民日报》报道，该县的建国一社创造了平均亩产干谷36956斤的惊人纪录，成为“天下第一田”。一个叫于建澄的新华社记者还配发了一张照片，四个小孩子站在密密层层的稻谷上，脸上洋溢着纯真无邪的欢笑，配图文字曰，“这块高产田里的早稻长得密密层层，孩子站在上马就像在沙发上似的”。此照广为流传，日后被称为“建国以来最有影响的虚假照片。” 很多年后，当事人是这样回忆的——建国一社选了一块面积为1.016亩的稻田，先深翻了1尺5寸，然后施了大量的底肥：陈墙土300担，塘泥1000担，水粪30担，石膏6斤，石灰30斤。在禾苗移来时，又施了豆饼180斤，硫酸氨70斤，过磷酸钙80斤，水粪60担，草木灰240斤。移栽的那天，全社动员4个生产队的劳动力，将另外8亩稻田的禾苗连根带泥拔出，用门板或梯子抬着，运到这块试验田中，移栽在一起。由于移并过来的禾苗太多，密不透风，据说把鸡蛋随便地放在禾苗上面滚动也不会掉下去。为了使禾苗不至于沤烂，他们就用细长的竹竿把禾苗一蔸一蔸地分开，又用喷雾器喷射井里的凉水，还派人到县城借来一台鼓风机，日夜不停地给禾苗鼓风。 8月27日《人民日报》发表社论《人有多大胆，地有多大产》，它马上成为1958年最出名、最响彻云天的一个口号。这篇社论配发的是中共中央办公厅派赴山东寿张县了解情况的人写回来的信。信中写道：这次寿张之行，是思想再一次的大解放。今年寿张的粮食单位产量，县委的口号是“确保双千斤，力争三千斤”。但实际在搞全县范围的亩产万斤粮的高额丰产运动。一亩地要产五万斤、十万斤以至几十万斤红薯，一亩地要产一、两万斤玉米、谷子，这样高的指标，当地干部和群众，讲起来象很平常，一点也不神秘。一般的社也是八千斤、七千斤，提五千斤指标的已经很少。至于亩产一、两千斤，根本没人提了。这里给人的印象首先是气魄大。 当“大胆”成为“大产”的惟一条件，再大的“卫星”都不再让人吃惊了。9月18日，一颗终结式“大卫星”把这场闹剧终于推到了最高潮。广西僮族自治区环江县红旗人民公社宣布，他们成功地运用了高度并禾密植方法，获得中稻平均亩产13.0434万斤10两4钱的高产新纪录（当时1斤为16两）。 9月30日，新华社向全世界宣布，中国1958年粮食总产量将达到3.5万亿斤，几乎是去年的十倍，远远高于预计的8000亿斤，一跃成为世界第一大产粮国。12月份，北京召开八届六中全会，与会者一致同意减少耕地，多种一些观赏植物，在《关于人民公社若干问题的决议》中这样写道：“过去人们经常忧患我们的人口多，耕地少，但是1958年农业大丰收的事实，把这种论断推翻了……应当争取在若干年内，根据地方条件，把现有种农作物的耕地面积逐步缩减到例如三分之一左右，而以其他的一部分实行轮休，种牧草、肥田草，另一部分土地植树造林，挖湖蓄水，在平地、山上和水面上都可以大种其万紫千红的观赏植物，实行大地园林化。”（根据国家统计局后来的核实，1958年的粮食总产量实际为4000亿斤，比上一年增加了2.5%，因为大炼钢铁，还有400到600亿斤的粮食烂在地里没有收回。这个收成是不错的，但无论如何，远远没有宣布的那么多。） 无论是大炼钢铁还是“放卫星”，都离不开制度性的变化。正是在1958年，一个前所未见的农村基层组织——人民公社诞生了，它在未来的二十年内深刻地影响了中国经济的起伏。人民公社的出现，既是一个乌托邦式的社会试验，同时，又是计划经济体制的必然产物。 自二十世纪初以来，尝试建设一个人人平等、一切财产公有的社会，是无数中国精英分子的梦想，师范生时期的毛泽东就曾幻想在岳麓山下建一个类似的社区。早在1949年建国前后，全国进行了土地改革运动，土地被平均分配给所有的农民，为了提高生产效率，各地组织了各种形式的农业生产合作社，它们的规模都很小，一般为二十、三十户为一社。1955年，毛泽东在他主编的《中国农村的社会主义高潮》一书中对合作社的规模亮明了他的观点，他认为：“小社人少地少资金少，不能进行大规模的经营，不能使用机器。这种小社仍然束缚生产力的发展，不能停留太久，应当逐步合并。”进入1958年的“大跃进”之后，随着大炼钢铁和粮食高产运动的风起云涌，各地农村组织“大兵团作战”，将农村的青壮年劳动力按军事化的编制进行“共产主义大协作”。3月20日，河南封丘县向中央报告，该县的应举农业生产合作社依靠集体力量，战胜自然灾害，改变了贫穷落后的面貌，毛泽东很振奋地写下《介绍一个合作社》一文，认定大集体化的农村组织是一个不可多得的新发明。4月12日，《人民日报》头版头条，以《联乡并社发展生产力》为题，报道了福建闽侯县把城门、下洋、龙江3个乡合并为1个乡、把23个农业生产合作社合并为1个社的消息，将之作为重要经验向全国推广。这以后，各地迅速开始了小社并大社的工作。辽宁于5月下半月，即将9272个社合并为1461个社，基本是一乡一社，平均每社约2000户左右，最大的为18000多户。紧接着，河南、河北、江苏、浙江也相继完成并社。河南由38286个社合并为2700多个社，平均每社4000户左右；北京郊区农村，由原来的1680个社合并为218个社，平均每社1600户。 5月19日，在中共八大二次会议上，宣传部长陆定一在发言中形象地描述了主要领导者心目中的农村组织形态，他说，“毛主席和少奇同志谈到几十年以后我国的情景时，曾经这样说，那时我国的乡村中将是许多共产主义的公社，每个公社有自己的农业、工业，有大学、中学、小学，有医院，有科学研究机关，有商店和服务行业，有交通事业，有托儿所和公共食堂，有俱乐部，也有维持治安的民警等等。若干乡村公社围绕着城市，又成为更大的共产主义公社。前人的乌托邦想法，将被实现，并将超过。” 公社这个名称，出自于欧洲中世纪，专指当时西欧实行自治的城镇。1824年前后，空想社会主义者罗伯特·欧文在美洲购置土地成立“欧文公社”，两千多人组成一个生产和消费的组织，进行未来理想社会的试验。在公社内部，纯粹个人日用品以外的一切东西都变为公有财产，产品按需分配，每个人可在公社仓库领取必需的物品。史上最著名的公社当属法国大革命时期的“巴黎公社”。在合并大社的运动中，初期的叫法五花八门，有的叫集体农庄，有的叫农场，有的叫社会主义大院或社会主义大家庭。“人民公社”一词的首次出现，是在7月1日出版的《红旗》杂志上，它的首倡人便是当年发明了“四大家族”一词的党内理论家陈伯达，他此时的身份是《红旗》总编辑。陈在《全新的社会，全新的人》一文中说，新出现的农村基层组织“实际上是农业和工业相结合的人民公社。” 据各种材料显示，最早形成了公社体制的基层典型，便是因为“放卫星”而名震全国的河北省遂平县嵖岈山卫星集体农庄，它第一个提出了“组织军事化、行动战斗化、生活集体化”的公社模式，毛泽东曾赞扬说，巴黎公社是世界上第一个公社，遂平“卫星”是第二个。而第一家公开使用“人民公社”名称的，则是河南省新乡县七里营人民公社，时间是8月1日。到1958年底，全国原有的74万个农业社变成了2.65万个“一大二公”的人民公社。 根据人民公社的章程，农村的一切财产和生产资料都归公有，社员交出全部自留地和私有的牲畜、林木等，仅可保留小量的、供自己食用的家禽。农民实行集体劳动，早上排着队、唱着歌一起去农田，晚上再一起回家，报酬实行工资（工分）制，粮食实行供给制，公社还实行全民武装，青壮年都被编成民兵，接受军事训练。 农民之所以愿意把土地和财产全部上缴、兴高采烈地加入公社，除了对集体经济的信心之外，还有一个重要的原因是，他们得到承诺，从此将可以“放开肚子吃饭。”8月10日的《人民日报》刊登了一篇题为的特写，新闻是这样写道：前些天，我到郊区去。在李二嫂家里一坐半天，快到中午吃饭的时候，总也不见她做饭。我想，大概拉起家常来，忘记做饭了。一会，她要我去吃饭，我开玩笑说，“你让我去吃什么呀！”我这一说，李二嫂笑开了，她一口气向我介绍了农村办“公共食堂”的新鲜事儿。 据李二嫂的描述，公社办起了一个大食堂，农民从此将不需要自己做饭了，而且吃饭吃到饱，还不需要钱。到1958年底，全国出现了345万个公共食堂，在食堂吃饭的农民占全国农村人口的90％以上，“大锅饭”一词由此而生。江苏省江阴县马镇人民公社还传唱出了一首民歌，“男的听到吃饭不要钱，浑身干劲冲破天；女的听到吃饭不要钱，做活赶在男人前……做活想到吃饭不要钱，一分一秒都争先；睡觉想到吃饭不要钱，越想心里越是甜；为什么心里越想越是甜？共产主义快实现！”吃饭不要钱的公共食堂，一直开到四年后的1961年。 如果说，1956年的私营企业上缴意味着城市私人资本的彻底消亡，那么，人民公社的诞生，则表明农村私人资本——特别是土地私有化的终结。事实上，从经济治理角度来看，当统购统销政策被确定下来后，土地的重新国有化便已是一个必然的趋势。人民公社制度延续了二十多年，在相当长的时间里，它限制了农民的生产积极性，成为短缺经济的主要根源之一。这一制度一直到1982年底才彻底解体。 值得记取一笔的是，在1958年，因大炼钢铁和搞人民公社，各地农村出现了一大批社队企业，它们制造并修理农耕必需的各种农具，这些设备极其简陋、制造水平极其低下的工业作坊日后将成为乡镇企业的最早胚胎。 在经济史上，1958年是一个虚假的、带有强烈自残倾向的年份，它让后人在相当长的时间里对当时发生的景象无法理解和充满了惊悚感。对高成长的迷恋以及致命的自负，使得全国上下都陷入了空前的疯魔，理性被激情屏蔽，幻觉成为真实。当所有的“假想敌”都被消灭或压制之后，缺乏约束和制衡的最高权力，最终成为伤害自身的、最尖锐的武器。这是一个令人扼腕的事实：在过去的十年里，饱受百年战乱之苦的中国终于获得了和平与稳定，中央政府通过强有力的手段建构了一个计划经济体制，并因此通过“举国战略”，建成了规模化的产业体系，集聚了一定的国家财富，中国经济在亚洲重新崛起。然而，到了1958年，仅仅用了一年时间，就把一切的秩序全部打乱推翻，国力财力和人力被平白消耗，国民经济从此陷入长达二十年之久的系统性紊乱。这种景象的产生根源，已经成为了一个世界性的命题，一直到今天还在被人们不断的研究与反思。 除了发生在工业和农业领域的种种荒唐事件之外，在一向以严谨科学为立命之本的科研界也非常不幸地出现了无比浮夸的景象，它似乎意味着更让人绝望的人文堕落。 早在2月份，中国科学院就举行各研究所所长会议，部署科学工作的“大跃进”。会上，院长郭沫若号召科学工作者拿出吃奶的力气来，促进科学大跃进。2月21日的《光明日报》引用科学家钱学森话说，“我相信理想的、极乐的世界于不久的将来就会在我们这块土地上建立起来”。 很快，耀眼的“科研卫星”从各个地方放了出来。 5月下旬，中科院北京地区共青团第二届代表大会上传出“捷报”，青年科学家们创制的产品有七项达到了国际先进水平，有11项是以往没有研制过的。 7月1日，新华社发布消息：“首都科学界向党汇报成果，许多研究项目超过英美水平。”其中，中国科学院应用物理研究所对于半导体晶体管的研究成果，是目前世界上功率最大、频率最高的半导体晶体，它比美国的同类产品还要高，更值得骄傲的是，这个成果是研究所在20天内突击完成的。化学所研究出了“尼龙9”，而国外还没有正式生产。地质所对于岩石分析、钶钽铁矿分析、独居石分析、锂云母分析等研究成果以及远距离操纵，自动化研究所的无触地远距离信号设备、脉冲频率制远测设备“也大大超过了英美水平”。同日，中科院机关党委召开第二次代表大会，各研究单位共向大会献出研究成果300余项，“其中超过国际水平和达到国际水平的共有25项。” 过了12天，《光明日报》报道说，科学院北京地区研究单位完成1000项研究项目，其中100多项达到或超过国际水平。这些成果中，有应用物理所的半导体晶体管、晶粒取向矽钢片，化学所为研究海水淡化而研制的离子交换机，原子能所的钳工万能机、金属三级油扩散真空抽气机等。 在首都科学家们的鼓励下，其他城市的科研机构当然也不甘落后。8月8日，上海举行科学技术研究工作跃进展览会，上海地方工业、上海高校、中科院和中央各部委在上海的研究机构共60个单位参展，共展出实物、图片、图表2600多件，“其中440多项达到或超过了国际水平，其余更多是国内或上海首创的”。参加展览的单位还提出了进一步的跃进计划，如煤炭变珠宝，废气变黄金，陶瓷像钢铁坚硬，钢铁像陶瓷耐高温，做到肿瘤低头，高血压让路。 在科研单位拼命大放“卫星”的同时，高等学校的科研跃进也让人咋舌。中国最重要、最著名的高校——北京大学自称在半个月内完成680项科研项目，超过了过去三年科研项目的总和，其中100多项是尖端技术科学，有50多项达到国际先进水平。仅仅半个月之后，北大的科研成果就突然达到了3406项，其中达到或超过国际水平的有119项，属于国内首创的有981项。而1952年至1956年4年间，北大订出的科研项目只有100项，1956年至1957年也只有400项。可这3400多项成果，从8月1日开始算起，只用了40天的时间。这种耻辱性的记录让这家有着光荣传统的大学蒙羞。 北大的科研“卫星”放出之后，捷克斯洛伐克向中国提出，希望中方提供北大已经达到“国际水平”的科研成果的清单、技术报告和资料。有关部门碍于兄弟国家的情面，只得要求北大提供相关材料。很快，中国的“科研卫星”成了一个国际笑话。 南开大学的科研进展也很神速。8月10日开始，南开党委领导4000多名师生，掀起大搞科学研究、大办工厂的高潮。第一夜就提出2000多个科研项目，其中大部分是属于尖端科学的，不少是“以前想都不敢想的”。南开师生提出了“与火箭争速度，和日月比高低”的口号，从11日至25日，共完成研究工作165项，其中理科各系试制成功属于全国第一次生产的产品30多种，达到国际水平的19种，世界独创的2种。 7月上旬，全国科联和北京科联组织中科院生物学部、中国农科院和北京农业大学的科学家，与来自河北、河南、湖北等省的30多位种田能手举行丰产座谈会。会前，科学家们提出了自己认为够高的亩产指标。指标是按照当时盛行的“两本帐”、“三本账”制订的：小麦1.5万斤、2万斤、3万斤；水稻2万斤、3万斤、4万斤；甘薯15万斤、20万斤、26万斤；籽棉3千斤、4千斤、6千斤。 可是，等到丰产座谈会一召开，听了种田能手的报告后，科学家们大吃一惊，先前准备公开的三项指标显然大大落后于农民兄弟，于是，他们只得临时修改自己的指标，提出“第一本账”小麦3万斤，水稻3万斤，甘薯40万斤，籽棉1万斤。而生物学部与农科院间也展开了挑战赛，生物学部的指标是小麦6万斤，水稻6.5万斤，甘薯50万斤，籽棉2万斤。 中央党校的党史专家罗平汉日后评论说，“出身于农家的毛泽东本来对那些放出来的农业高产卫星是将信将疑的，而科学家从科学原理对农业高产的论证，却使他相信粮食高产是有可能的。” 就在这次丰产座谈会开过不久，毛泽东在徐水等地视察，提出了“粮食多了怎么办”的疑问，很快，它被当成最高指示传达给了中国科学院。中科院党组将此作为第一紧急任务，组织全国最顶级的科学家进行攻关，长春应用化学研究所、大连石油研究所、北京化学研究所、上海有机化学研究所、上海生物化学研究所和上海植物生理研究所的专家们纷纷献计献策，研究出了粮食转化为工业原料的众多方法。 可笑而可悲的正是，就当科学家们在实验室里为粮食转化日夜鏖战的时候，一场黑色的大饥荒降临了。