Chapter 69 Speech at the Wuchang Conference[1]

(November 23, 1958) (1) Talk about writing articles.Comrades from the twelve ministries of the Central Committee have written twelve reports, which need to be discussed and revised.The article is well written, it was a pleasure to read it.The line is still the same line, and the spirit is still the same, that is, the proposed indicators and basis must be carefully studied.Some of the indicators put forward in the report are not well-founded. They only talk about possibilities, but not justifications. The ministries need supplementary grounds.For example, it is possible to say that it is possible to reach 400 million tons of steel in ten years, but it is not enough to say why it is possible.To make it more solid.All members of the Central Committee have to read it, and they can also send it to the party secretaries and factory directors of 18 key enterprises to let them all read it, so that they can have an overall perspective.Some articles can even be published in newspapers after revision, to let the people know that this is no secret.I said compress the air, not reduce it.Matter is immortal, and there is still so much air, but it is only compressed and becomes a liquid or solid state.

Reports should always be well-founded.Make it clearer and explain when you can pass the test.For example, the two ends of the iron and steel equipment - mining and steel rolling have not passed the customs clearance. When will they be able to pass the customs clearance? Will it be March, April, or May next year? Why can they pass the customs clearance at that time? It is necessary to give a reason and basis.For another example, why can't the matching of machinery be matched, when can it be matched, and what is the basis? It should be discussed with the second in command.Another example is that foreign stoves can use earth and iron. What is the basis, when and how to solve it? What about power shortage? Now we have found a way out, which is to build our own power plant.Factories, mines, government agencies, schools, and troops all build their own power stations, using water, fire, wind, and biogas, and solving many problems.This is a well-known trick created by the Northeast.Are all regions adopting the same method? How much can be solved? If you don't have electricity, you can't do anything.

How to solve it? After discussing for two or three days, then modify the document and supplement the basis. The main requirements are indeed reliable, and the indicators need to be changed. (4) The issue of fraud.The first draft of the "Resolution Concerning Some Issues Concerning the People's Commune"[3] put forward by the Zhengzhou Conference[2] is now to be turned into an instruction, and the issue of fraud should be devoted to one article, and should not be written together with the working methods, otherwise people will not pay attention.Now anyway, if you want to release "satellites" and compete for reputation, you will make fakes.There was a commune that had only 100 pigs. In order to meet the visit, it borrowed 200 big pigs and sent them back after the visit.If there are a hundred head, there is a hundred head. If there is no one, then there is none. Why do you fake it? In the past, there were reports of victory in wars, how many prisoners were taken, and how many were captured. , cannot be deceived.Later, we objected to this, repeated orders and repeated education, and we must be honest so that we dare not cheat.In fact, are they all that honest? People are not in harmony, I think it is a bit fake, and some people in the world are not so honest.It is recommended to have a real talk with the secretary of the county party committee and the secretary of the party committee of the commune, to be honest and not to lie.It doesn't work at all, so it doesn't matter if you let others scold you and make your face dull.Don't fight for vanity.For example, I don’t really believe in eradicating illiteracy in half a year or a year, but eradicating it during the Second Five-Year Plan would be good.Greening, every year, every year is not green, and the more green, the less trees can be seen.It is said that the four pests have been eliminated, but it is a village with "four nos", but it is actually a village with "four existences".He always said that the tasks stipulated by the above were completed, and faked them if they were not completed.The serious problem now is that not only are the lower levels cheating, but we believe it, from the central government, provinces, prefectures, and counties, mainly the top three levels. This is dangerous.If you don't believe in everything, you become opportunistic.The masses have indeed made achievements, why should the achievements of the masses be erased, but it is believed that deception also makes mistakes.For example, 11 million tons of steel, if you say there is not even 10,000 tons, then of course it is wrong, but is there really that much? Another example is grain, how much is there? Then it was reduced to 750,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

If there is a competition, the result will be fake; if there is no competition, there will be no competition.It is necessary to set up a competition method, to inspect, and to organize an acceptance committee. Like exporting materials, it is not acceptable to fail to meet the specifications.Economic undertakings should be done more carefully, more realistically and more scientifically, which is different from poetry, and one must understand the difference between poetry and economic undertakings. "Pick up Chaohu Lake as a ladle", this is a poem, I have never carried it, probably you people from Anhui have carried it.How can Chaohu handle it? Even if it is checked, it is still estimated that there are fakes in it.Some of them are fake, and you can’t find them out even if you check them. They held a meeting and arranged everything in advance.I hope that the central, provincial, and prefectural levels all understand this problem, have a clear head, and make a discount.30% to 70% and 10% to 30% off, is it okay? Does this underestimate the results and distrust the cadres and the masses? There must be some distrust, and it must be estimated that at least not less than 10% is false, and some are 100% Fake.This is bad fakery.The other is a happy falsification.For example, to conceal property, cadres must report more, and ordinary people must conceal property. This is a contradiction.Concealment of production is beneficial. In some places, if there are too many reports, the higher authorities will transfer more, and there will not be much left for them, and they will suffer.There is another kind of falsehood, which is also well-made, and it is used to deal with subjectivism and coercive orders.A subordinate cadre in Zhongnanhai wrote back and said that the commune he was in stipulated that 300 mu of corn should be pulled out and planted with sweet potatoes. One and a half million sweet potatoes should be planted per mu, and the corn had already grown to the height of a human head at that time. The masses felt that it was a pity that only 30 mu had been uprooted, but the report said that 300 mu had been uprooted.This kind of falsification is good.Wang Renzhong [4] said that in a certain place in Hebei, his hometown, during the Spring Festival, everyone is required to water the wheat and not let them rest. The common people have no choice but to cheat.Lighting lanterns in the field at night, people are actually resting at home. When the cadres see the lights everywhere, they think that everyone has not rested.There is a county in Hubei where the masses are required to fight hard day and night without sleeping at night.But when the masses want to sleep, they send children to watch. When they see the cadres coming, they get up and coax them, and the cadres leave and go back to sleep.It's also good fakery.In short, on the one hand, cadres must be clear-headed, and on the other hand, they must be educated, not to be deceived, not to force orders.Otherwise, what should people do if they stand up to watch? Now there is an atmosphere where only achievements are mentioned, and shortcomings are not mentioned. If there are shortcomings, people will lose face. If they tell the truth, no one will listen to them.It is news that the tail grows behind the buttocks, but no one listens. It is news that it grows on the head.It is necessary to carry out education, speak clearly, and be honest, and it is good to be able to do it within a few years.I think that after a few years, once you get on the track, you will be more at ease.

(5) Abolish superstition, don't dismiss science as superstition.For example, people have to eat. This is science and cannot be broken.Zhang Liang[5] did bigu, but he ate meat.Now, if we don't let go and let the masses eat, it is probably because the output has been reported too much.People need to sleep, this is also science.Animals always have to rest, and so do bacteria. The human heart beats seventy-two times a minute, and more than one hundred thousand times a day.One has to eat, and the other has to sleep. If these two things are broken, it will be difficult to do things, and people will die.In addition, there are quite a few things that have been dismantled there as superstitions.Man oppresses the natural world, uses the tools of production to act on the objects of production, and the objects in the natural world have to resist and react. This is a science.When a person walks on the ground, the ground has resistance. Without resistance, he cannot walk.If the grassland does not resist much, it will be difficult to walk; if the mixed mud field does not resist, if it sinks in, it will not be pulled out. This kind of field needs to be mixed with sand.Nature has resistance, it's a piece of science.If you don't admit it, it will kill you.Since the eradication of superstition, it has been extremely effective, and dare to think, speak, and act, but a small part of the eradication has gone too far, and the scientific truth has also been eradicated.For example, they don't even need to sleep, saying that one hour of sleep is enough.The goal is to destroy superstition, but science cannot be broken.

All superstitions must be destroyed, and all truths must be protected.Bourgeois legal rights can only be abolished in part, such as the three styles and five tendencies, the excessive disparity in levels, the attitude of the master, and the cat-and-mouse relationship must be abolished, and the more thoroughly the better.The other part, such as wage grades, superior-subordinate relations, and the state's certain coercion, cannot be broken.Part of bourgeois legal rights is useful in the socialist era and must be protected to serve socialism.Beat it to pieces, and there will come a day when we will have to be passive, to admit our mistakes, to apologize to the useful bourgeois right.Therefore, it is necessary to analyze and distinguish which ones are useful and which ones need to be eliminated.In view of the fact that the Soviet Union did not destroy those who should break the bourgeois legal rights, and the order is quite solidified, we should break those who should be broken, and protect the useful parts.

According to the Central Archives, it will be published as a transcript of the speech. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] From November 21 to 27, 1958, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an enlarged meeting of the Politburo in Wuchang. Some central leaders and the first secretaries of the party committees of provinces, cities, and autonomous regions participated in the meeting.Mao Zedong made speeches at the meeting on the 21st and 23rd.The speech on the 23rd consisted of seven parts, and this article excerpts the first, fourth, and fifth parts.

[2] Refers to the meeting convened by Mao Zedong in Zhengzhou from November 2 to 10, 1958, which was attended by some central leaders and some local leaders, also known as the first Zhengzhou meeting.At the meeting, Mao Zedong criticized erroneous ideas such as eagerly wanting to transition the people's communes from collective ownership to ownership by the whole people, from socialism to communism, and attempting to abolish commodity production. [3] The "Resolution Concerning Certain Issues Concerning the People's Commune" was soon discussed and adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Wuchang from November 28 to December 10, 1958.

[4] Wang Renzhong (1917-1992), from Jingxian County, Hebei Province.At that time, he was the first secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. [5] Zhang Liang (?—186 BC), styled Zifang, was born in Chengfu (now southeast of Bozhou, Anhui), and an important adviser to Liu Bang.