Chapter 22 7. Anti-Japanese Model Base

After the Jinchaji border region government was established, Nie Rongzhen led the construction of the border region government.After the first anti-siege victory, the Northern Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Eighth Route Army Headquarters sent Peng Zhen to Jinchaji in February 1938 to lead the work of the Jinchaji border area on behalf of the Northern Bureau. On March 26, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided that Peng Zhen, in the name of the Northern Bureau, would cooperate with Nie Rongzhen to guide the party work in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, Pinghan Road East, and Pingjin and Tianjin.

Peng Zhen used to be the head of the organization of the Northern Bureau, with a high level of policy and quick thinking.Nie Rongzhen is naturally very happy that he will preside over the work of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Party.In November of the same year, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided to form the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Branch of the Central Committee with Peng Zhen as the secretary and Nie Rongzhen, Guan Xiangying, and Cheng Zihua as members.Later, the Central Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Branch was renamed the Central Northern Branch, and the members remained unchanged.Until January 1941, when Peng Zhen returned to Yan'an to participate in the "Seventh National Congress" of the Communist Party of China, it was changed to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Branch Bureau and Nie Rongzhen acted as the branch secretary.

Under the leadership of Peng Zhen, Nie Rongzhen, Song Shaowen and others, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region has attached great importance to the comprehensive construction of the base area from the very beginning.In addition to vigorously strengthening the construction of the main force, local armed forces and militia, special emphasis was also placed on party building.Both Nie Rongzhen and Peng Zhen believed that in order to build a good base area, the Party leadership at all levels must first be strengthened.This is the fundamental guarantee for the consolidation and expansion of the base areas.At the first congress of the CCP’s Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region in April 1938, Nie Rongzhen demanded that both local party organizations and army party organizations should truly function as battle fortresses, leading and educating the masses to resolutely implement the Chinese Communist Party’s anti-Japanese national united front We will unite and persevere in the anti-Japanese struggle.

In order to establish both anti-Japanese and democratic bases, the border region carried out extensive democratic political movements, held democratic elections for district and village regimes, and gradually strengthened and transformed grassroots regimes.Nie Rongzhen often studied with Song Shaowen and others, and determined that the transformation of the old regime must first mobilize the masses.After the masses are mobilized, they use various methods to report bad elements in the grassroots regime, eliminate those who oppress the people or do not serve the people, and then elect those who can represent the interests of the basic masses to take power.The system of people's representative conferences at all levels has also been implemented in various places, and the political institutions have been reformed.Representatives are elected by the village assembly.The peasant masses were illiterate, and it was quite inconvenient to vote, so they created the "bean election" method, which was extremely democratic at the time.That is, each candidate puts a bowl behind his back, and the voters put a bean into the bowl of whoever they want to vote for, and finally the election result is determined by the number of beans.Most of the representatives or cadres elected in this way can truly serve the interests of the people and win the support of the masses.This kind of democratic right to be the master of the country has never been enjoyed by the people of Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei for generations, which greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the people to resist Japan.

In order to fully mobilize the masses, the party and the government led the masses to implement the policy of reducing rent and interest, and spread this movement to all parts of the border region. On February 9, 1938, the border region government promulgated the "Separate Regulations on Rent and Interest Reduction in the Jinchaji Border Region", which stipulated that the land income of the landlords shall be reduced by 25% of the original rent; the interest income of the creditors shall not exceed One point (10%).In addition, extra surcharges are abolished, and usury is prohibited.

In January 1939, when Nie Rongzhen delivered a report at the Second Congress of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Branch of the Communist Party of China, he emphasized that in order to protect the interests of the people, all localities must thoroughly implement the policy of reducing rent and interest.He clearly pointed out that this is the fundamental measure to overwhelm the feudal forces politically and weaken the feudal forces economically. Due to the deepening of the work of the party, the government and the peasant association among the masses, the class consciousness and political status of the basic masses have been greatly improved, and the reduction of rent and interest has formed a wide range of conscious mass struggles.They exposed a large number of stubborn landlords, traitors and spies, and criminals who violated the United Front and government policies and laws.

The implementation of the policy of reducing rent and interest greatly reduced the pressure of feudal exploitation on poor peasants, improved the people's lives to a certain extent, and gave the people new vitality, thus playing a key role in mobilizing the masses. The correct implementation of the policy of reducing rent and interest in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region has enabled the masses to obtain tangible benefits, and their anti-Japanese enthusiasm has been greatly enhanced.People often praise the people in Jinchaji for mobilizing well and successfully.In fact, the secret lies in doing two things well: one is to reduce rent and interest, so that poor peasants can benefit economically; the other is to implement democracy, so that they can gain political freedom.

Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei were isolated behind the enemy, and hardly received any material assistance. Therefore, Nie Rongzhen attached great importance to organizing military and civilian production.Under his advocacy, the border region government encouraged the masses to develop production from the very beginning, plant trees, build water conservancy, improve farming methods, reclaim wasteland, harvest more grain, support the resistance against Japan, and improve their lives.By 1939, the "Regulations on Rewarding Production Enterprises" and "Measures for Reclamation of Beaches and Wasteland" were issued, calling for less cotton to be planted in plain areas to prevent being plundered and used by the enemy, requiring various regions to grow more grains, develop handicrafts, and try to weave homespun cloth by themselves. To meet military needs and civilian use.Some places also call for one person to raise a chicken and one household to raise a pig.

As early as the beginning of 1938, the border region began to organize a cooperative economy and established various cooperatives. The masses voluntarily raised funds to form joint stock shares and implemented democratic management.At that time, the cooperative mainly dealt in consumer goods and organized transportation. In the spring of 1939, the Border Region Government promulgated the "Provisional Regulations for Cooperatives" to further improve the development of the cooperative economy.The mass mutual aid and cooperative economy facilitates the production and exchange of farmers, reduces the exploitation of profiteers and usury, and is conducive to the organized economic struggle against the enemy.

The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region has also gradually strengthened financial construction, improved the financial system, and guaranteed military supplies and civilian use.The military and administrative expenses of the base area mainly come from "reasonable burden", land tax and taxation.Nie Rongzhen said: Since most of our troops and cadres come from the working people, starting from simple class feelings, they proposed from the very beginning that the finances for the War of Resistance should be borne by wealthy landlords, rich peasants, or industrial and commercial owners.Doing so is obviously not in line with the general policy of the Anti-Japanese National United Front.Therefore, according to the spirit of the central government's instructions, we have proposed a reasonable burden method.What a reasonable law, Song Shaowen led the Border Region Government to explore and research it out.He understands economics, is very thorough in research, and works very meticulously. The methods he put forward have won the support and support of the masses in the border areas.

The method of reasonable burden in Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei, regardless of rich or poor at the beginning, is calculated based on the total income of each household converted into rice. The average income of each peasant household is less than one stone and four buckets of millet. From two stones to three stones, 5% will be levied; each additional stone will increase by 1% until it reaches 20%.Those engaged in industry and commerce shall pay in cash or in kind at the same rate.Later, I felt that the exemption point was slightly higher and the burden area was narrower, which was not good for the united front, so I lowered the exemption point and expanded the burden area to about 60% of the total number of households in the border area. "National Salvation Public Grain" is collected, paid and kept by the village government.In this way, every village has a grain station, and every village has a warehouse, and supplies can be taken everywhere, so that they can be used by mistake, and transportation is saved, reducing losses.For the food used by the army and government agencies, the government issued food stamps on a monthly basis to ensure the supply. After taking these measures, the border region's finances gradually got on track.Nie Rongzhen once said proudly: Since ancient times, there has been a saying that "soldiers and horses are not moved, food and grass go first". During the War of Resistance Against Japan, there was no problem of "food and grass first". Obtain "food and grass" supplies on the spot. In mobilizing the masses to carry out political, economic and other struggles, Jinchaji also vigorously strengthened the leadership of mass organizations.Workers, peasants, youths, women and children in the base areas were organized extensively so that they could play a greater role in the anti-Japanese struggle.The peasant associations absorbed and relied on the poor and hired peasants, and with the active members of the poor and hired peasants as the backbone, united the peasants and supported the War of Resistance Against Japan in various ways. This was the most reliable mass foundation of the Eighth Route Army. Youth in the border areas are the most active force on all fronts and an important reserve force for the party and the army.Organizations at all levels of the CCP paid special attention to the leadership of the "Youth Anti-Japanese Vanguard". Through this semi-armed mass organization, the majority of young people played a powerful role in the struggle against the enemy and in various tasks. Nie Rongzhen said: During the Anti-Japanese War, the masses in Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei were well organized and the social order was in good order.As long as we are in the border area, we are very safe wherever we go. The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Anti-Japanese Base Area not only gained a firm foothold in the enemy's rear, but also continued to grow stronger in the siege of powerful enemies. Mao Zedong, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the Eighth Route Army Headquarters attached great importance to it, and fully affirmed the struggle achievements of the Jinchaji border area in all aspects. As early as March 29, 1938, Mao Zedong praised the achievements of Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei in his speech at the Northern Shaanxi Public School: "As Li Bai said, 'If you leave a big piece of paper, I will write an article', not only a large piece of land can Making a fuss... Nie Rongzhen, the deputy commander of the 115th Division, is now creating an anti-Japanese base area in Wutai Mountain, singing his opera between Ping-Han and Ping-Sui. Chairman of the Provisional Government Committee of the Republic of China.) while shouting: "Catch Nie Rongzhen alive" and fought many rounds. The Japanese couldn't beat them, so they burned many houses of the common people. It's okay, he can't go by himself after burning the houses, and the common people are fine Go to be a guerrilla. So all men, women and children mobilized, the Self-Defense Forces, the Young Pioneers, set up schools, and trained cadres. Dozens of county towns had no officials, so they established an anti-Japanese government and fought against Rehe... We want to establish Wutai Mountain, Renshan Mountain, and various bases." The Presidium of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stated in a message of condolence to Nie Rongzhen and others on October 5, 1938: You have "created the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area to become a model anti-Japanese base area behind enemy lines and a model area for the united front. These are in You have played and will play an extremely important strategic role in the war of resistance in North China, and your experience will become the most valuable guide for the whole party and the whole country in the war of resistance."