Chapter 60 "The economy of the frontier is an agricultural economy"

"The economy of the border is an agricultural economy", this is Mao Zedong's accurate characterization of the economic form of the Jinggangshan base area. A self-sufficient agricultural economy is the basic condition for the implementation of armed separatism.The geographical location and climatic conditions of the Jinggangshan area are suitable for the growth of crops, so that the countryside can exist without relying on the city, which is conducive to the survival of the armed forces of the separatist regime. However, the low level of productivity due to isolation and backwardness is also the main feature of the self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy, which seriously restricts the development of the border economy. The contradiction between supply and demand is very prominent.

When Mao Zedong first led the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants to "settle down" in Maoping, Ninggang, there were not many troops with nearly a thousand soldiers, but the troops found it difficult to provide food, especially the problem of food, so that when the troops went down the mountain again, Everywhere I go, I never forget to "beat local tyrants and raise money". The food problem became more serious after the two teams led by Mao Zedong and Zhu De joined forces. Fan Shude, who was in charge of the logistics work of the army at that time, recalled: "In the beginning, our team only had a thousand people, and confiscating the landlord's food can solve the food problem. For example: after arriving in Suichuan, we only need to fight a few local tyrants to solve our problem. The problem of time and food... In April 1928, Comrades Zhu De and Chen Yi led the troops from southern Hunan and our troops to join forces in Jinggangshan. But we left our hometown and went to Jinggangshan, but it is impossible for us to organize them into a strict army, and we cannot let them be 'beggars' in Jinggangshan."

A serious problem lay before us: In the economically backward Jinggangshan area, it is indeed not easy to feed more than 10,000 people for a long time.Fan Shude calculated an account: "At that time, each of us ate 24 taels a day on the old scale (one catty of the old scale is 16 taels), which is 1 and a half catties. In this way, each person needed 45 catties a month." Calculated in this way, 10,000 people will eat 15,000 catties of grain a day.This is not a small amount!So much so that in Mao Zedong's letter to the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee and the Central Committee, he exclaimed that "the crowd of 10,000 people dragged their feet in mud" and "it was difficult to eat".

In order to solve the problem of "difficulty eating", the border party, the Military Commission, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, etc. took some decisive measures: to reduce the combat effectiveness of the southern Hunan peasant army, except for the twenty-ninth regiment organized in the tenth division, the other The peasant troops from Yongxing, Zixing, Chenxian and other places all returned to southern Hunan; intensifying their efforts to fight against local tyrants, the Red Army immediately dispatched a small team to fight against local tyrants every time it arrived. Engage in materials; save all non-essential expenses, so as to save limited funds to buy food as much as possible.

These measures took effect very quickly, especially the work of repatriating the Hunan Agricultural Army at the end of May 1928. After the Red Fourth Army Military Commission made a decision, the Thirty, Thirty-three, Thirty-four, and Thirty-five 1. Thousands of peasant soldiers and their families from the 36th Regiment immediately moved from Ningkang in Jiangxi to southern Hunan via Shuikou in Lingxian County, Hunan. After arriving at Penggong Temple on the border of Zixing County, the troops split up and went their separate ways. Return to your country of origin. The food pressure on the soldiers and civilians on the border has thus been greatly relieved.

Even so, it was still quite difficult to maintain a regular Red Army of a certain size in the base areas.Fundamentally ensuring the Red Army's supplies also depends on the development of the border economy. Since the border economy is an agricultural economy, the development of the border economy is actually the development of agricultural production.Mao Zedong and the border party organizations were clearly aware of this, and during the tense military struggle, they also took some measures to develop agricultural production on the border. In the Jinggangshan base area, with the development and deepening of the agrarian revolution, the peasants obtained the land and the productivity was liberated. It can be said that "the land returns to its hometown, and the peasants laugh."This has created the most basic conditions for the development of border agricultural production.

The allocation of fields does not mean that they have received food. The Soviet governments at all levels on the border, while organizing and carrying out the struggle for the allocation of fields, did not forget to urge the farmers who were allocated fields to work diligently and work hard. Farmers who have their own land, although they have the enthusiasm for production.However, in the border areas dominated by military struggles, the special environment has restricted the development of farmers' production. First, most young and middle-aged men joined the army and fought, resulting in a shortage of labor; second, many poor and hired farmers who were assigned to the fields had insufficient farm tools and cattle due to their weak family background.

The Soviet government then called on women to go out of the house and serve as the backbone of agricultural production.A woman named Zhang Donglian once recalled: "At that time, all the strong men went to fight against local tyrants and evil gentry or joined the Red Army, leaving only the old, weak, sick and disabled at home. Therefore, we women did all the plowing, harrowing, and rice planting. ... The women in our Sanwan village were not only the backbone of production, but also the activists who participated in the war and divided the land by the local tyrants. At that time, we worked very hard and it was very difficult, but in the difficult and difficult environment we All very pleasant."

These are the women on the frontier, the women on the frontier who have made great sacrifices and contributions to the construction of the Jinggangshan base area! In order to solve the problem of shortage of labor force, agricultural tools, and cattle for some peasant households, the Soviet governments at all levels also mobilized and organized the masses to implement labor exchange and mutual assistance for cattle and agricultural tools on the basis of the exchange of labor for farming that had already existed in the border areas.In some places, plowing teams were organized to help each other and overcome difficulties in production.

While mobilizing farmers to actively develop agricultural production, in order to support agricultural production on the border, the Special Committee and the Military Commission also required Red Army commanders and fighters to actively participate in productive labor when dividing troops to mobilize the masses.Mao Zedong set an example. When he led the 31st Regiment to the Tangbian area of ​​Yongxin Xixiang to carry out the pilot work of the border land revolution, he took He Zizhen, He Minxue and comrades from the 31st Regiment to Quanshuiwo to help the villagers. They cut the crops and left a deep impression on the local people.

In order to promote the vitality of the border economy and break the enemy's strict economic blockade, Mao Zedong and others accepted the suggestion of Long Chaoqing, secretary of the Ninggang County Party Committee, and Yuan Wencai, chairman of the border government, and decided to open a red fair in Dalong, which is close to the border of Ling County, to communicate. Trade in Chibai District. On July 15, 1928, the Dalong Red Fair was officially opened.On this day, people flocked to the fair from all directions early.Among the endless stream of people were farmers from Ninggangben County, buyers from the Red Army, and small merchants from the borders of Suichuan, Ling County, and Chaling.The goods on the polder are piled up like mountains, local products, Chinese herbal medicines, poultry and game, cloth, salt, grain and oil, everything is available, everything is available, the price is reasonable, the order is in good order, and the whole polder presents a scene of prosperity. Lai Chunfeng talked about the positive effect of the opening of the Dalong Red Fair on the border economy in "Committee Mao Leads Us to Build the Red Fair": "After the opening of the Dalong Red Fair, the traders and the people in the white area unanimously responded:' When we came to the Red Dalong Fair to do business, we felt that everything was fresher than the white area, and we felt very comfortable. The red area and the white area are really two heavens! Even if we risk our lives, we have to go to the base area to do business and support the base area The struggle of the people.” The people in the Jinggangshan base area said: “Commissioner Mao is really wise...” The Dalong Fair opened well, not only breaking the enemy’s economic blockade and overcoming difficulties, but also promoting industrial and agricultural production and economic construction in the base area development of." Due to the adoption of a series of measures to develop the agricultural economy, the agricultural production on the border has developed under the strict blockade of the enemy. In the autumn of 1928, the base area had a good agricultural harvest, and the grain in Ninggang County increased significantly.This has played a great role in ensuring the Red Army's supplies, consolidating and developing the base areas.