Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 248



Only Krnovel

#248. Are you really doing that?

In particular, Chen Yun, who could be called the de facto economic commander of the People’s Republic of China, seemed to faint at any moment at Mao Zedong’s sudden advance.

What does this mean when the first five-year plan that he personally drafted is progressing smoothly?

Chen Yun is the only economic expert among the Chinese Communist Party leadership.

The economy, which had been devastated by decades of Sino-Japanese war and Chinese civil war, was barely improving, and I had a gut feeling that if we did something like the Great Leap Forward, as Mao Zedong had said, everything would just end up in trouble again.

In the end, I carefully opened my mouth, determined to somehow stop it, even if it was Mao Zedong’s words.

“Excuse me, Comrade Joo.”

“What? Vice Chairman Tian Yun?”

“I fully understand Comrade Chairman’s desire to develop the economy as quickly as possible to ensure the people’s lives and complete the revolution, but… … .”

“Okay, but what? Are you saying there’s a problem?”

“It’s not a problem, but it seems too urgent. As you know, the land reform that Comrade Chairman also advocated and supported has finally been completed. However, if the land is returned to the ownership of the People’s Commune right after the land reform is completed, there will be a backlash from the people.”

The Chinese Communist Party’s land reform was quite radical.

Mao Zedong, who called himself a ‘son of peasants’, made the following remark after the war:

“Land reform will give farmers a chance to turn their lives around!”

By completing land reform in this way, China would break the chains of thousands of years of feudal remnants and open up a new world.

And the land reform that started like that left behind significant side effects.

Let’s think about it.

Because China itself is such a large country, the form of land ownership, the ratio of independent farmers to large landowners or wealthy farmers, and the reality of tenant farmers were different in each village.

Even among the landowners who were barely able to make ends meet, there was a considerable proportion, and land reform was carried out by confiscating all of them without compensation.

Naturally, the peasants’ resistance was strong, and the Communist government of the People’s Republic of China branded all people who opposed or resisted as reactionaries and suppressed and executed them.

The number of people executed in this way reached a whopping 5 million, both in history and this time.

But at the very moment when the bloody land reform was barely being completed and settled, they are confiscating the land again and turning it into collective farms?

Not only Tian Yun, but all the cadres attending the State Council meeting had a gut feeling that if things continued this way, bloodshed would break out again.

Why not just not give it to me in the first place?

Does it make sense to confiscate the land that was confiscated and then distributed while massacring the people who did not want it?

In a word, what Tian Yun said was extremely natural.

However, such words could not have reached Mao Zedong’s ears, who was already absorbed in the Great Leap Forward.

Lightning struck right away.

“What nonsense are you talking about! When we’re talking about making a great leap forward, you’re saying you’re hesitating because of a little inconvenience?”

“Oh, no, that’s not it… … .”

“Look here, Comrade Cheon.”

“Yes, Comrade Joo-soo.”

“Hey, if you look closely, it seems like there are times when you hear the same things right-wingers do?”

“… … .”

Tian Yun’s face turned completely pale.

Right wing?

If you go right, the result is obvious.

It’s death.

But even so, how can you call Tian Yun a right-winger?

Tian Yun is fundamentally a thorough communist.

Of course, because it had a strong tendency toward realism, it was also quite flexible.

Having studied commerce and finance since childhood and becoming an economic expert within the Communist Party, he believed in a thorough planned economy as a communist, but he believed that no matter how thoroughly planned economic policies were implemented, the minimum human needs could not be suppressed indefinitely.

So, basically, they implemented a ‘thoroughly planned economy’ policy in accordance with communist ideology, but they believed that within the framework of that planned economy, they should guarantee a minimum level of private property ownership and autonomous market activities.

And this economic philosophy of his was later systematized into the ‘birdcage economics’, commonly referred to as the ‘birdcage theory’, and accordingly, even when Deng Xiaoping came to power, he was wary of rapid reforms and openness and opposed Deng Xiaoping.

In any case, there was no one who did not know that Tian Yun was a thoroughgoing communist, but even if he questioned that a little, they were trying to brand him as a right-winger.

“Ah! Of course, I’m not saying that Comrade Cheon is a right-winger. But in my view, he’s only about 50 meters away from the right-winger?”

“Comrade, Comrade Chairman… … .”

“Be careful. It’s not for nothing that I didn’t consult you when I was planning the Great Leap Forward.”

“… … .”

If you do the Great Leap Forward, you become right-wing.

Not only Tian Yun, but also other cadres who had secretly supported Tian Yun found it difficult to open their mouths any longer.

In this tense atmosphere, Mao Zedong continued speaking.

“Is there anyone else who objects? If so, let me know.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

How could that be possible?

“Okay, then I think everyone agrees, so let’s talk about it in more detail. I mean, I felt something the last time I went out to the countryside to do some field guidance. Sparrows are a real problem.”

“yes?”

“A sparrow?”

“Are you talking about that flying sparrow?”

What is this random talk?

You said you were going to make a great leap forward, but why are you calling it a sparrow?

“Yes, I mean sparrows. I mean flying sparrows.”

“What about that sparrow?”

“Huh! Are you saying that the people who lead the country don’t know the harm of sparrows?”

“… … ?”

“… … ??”

Everyone couldn’t help but be bewildered.

Are you saying that sparrows are such harmful birds?

Could it be that sparrows ate people without knowing it?

“You annoying people! What on earth do you do when you go to a local map? Don’t you know what I realized when I went there once?”

“yes?”

“Sparrows! Those sparrows are eating up the grains that our people have grown with their blood, sweat, and tears! So why didn’t any of the party officials talk about the harmful effects of sparrows?”

“huh?”

“uh?”

“ha…….”

The executives were astonished.

Well, who doesn’t know that sparrows eat grain?

But sparrows don’t just eat grains.

Sparrows also eat all kinds of pests that are harmful to humans.

That is why it is common to chase away sparrows that eat grain during harvest season.

Everyone was thinking the same thing, but no one opened their mouths.

I just thought that Mao Zedong was thinking of the people and saying that sparrows were harmful, and I thought that he would stop there.

But they overlooked the fact that once Mao Zedong got hooked, he would see it through to the end.

“So I did some research with the Social Sciences Institute on the harmful effects of sparrows. The results were surprising, weren’t they?”

“What were the results?”

“It has been revealed that sparrows are truly pests that suck the blood of the people.”

“… … .”

They said it was a surprising result, but the conclusion was that sparrows are bad birds.

And they don’t even tell me what the result is.

“So I decided.”

“yes?”

“Sparrows are definitely harmful birds, and they should be exterminated. That is why we have decided to eliminate all sparrows within the Chinese mainland!”

“Ugh!”

“Ugh!”

“… … .”

“… … .”

Does this mean it can be done?

Oh my god, you want to eradicate sparrows from the continent?

Whether it was Zhou Enlai or Deng Xiaoping, they were all speechless, but they could not go against Mao Zedong’s wishes with a mere sparrow.

They also do not yet know how disastrous the consequences of the disappearance of sparrows will be.

“If we just say let’s get rid of sparrows, that’s a bit much, so I’ve decided to launch an extermination campaign that includes mosquitoes, flies, and rats, which cause great harm to our people. I’ve decided to call this the Elimination of the Four Harms Movement, as a practical campaign of the Great Leap Forward, with the intention of eliminating the four harmful insects, the four pests!”

“Yes, please do so.”

“It is a wise decision.”

“… … .”

Although sparrows may seem random and absurd, mosquitoes, flies, and rats are all pests and animals that are considered useless no matter what anyone says.

So, I had no intention of going against Mao Zedong, who proudly announced it, even adding his name to it.

It is questionable whether the remaining three evils will be caught well, like sparrows.

“And by the way, what is the most important thing for industrialization?”

“Are you talking about the steel industry?”

“That’s right! Steel is the symbol of industrialization, isn’t it? Rice is the symbol of industrialization.”

“you’re right.”

“So I came up with a way to dramatically expand our steelmaking capabilities.”

“Yes? How do you mean?”

“That’s right, every house in the village makes an earthen blast furnace, and the farmers in the village produce steel themselves! What do you think? Hahahaha!”

“omg!”

“Ugh… … .”

Even executives who knew nothing about economics or the steel industry could instinctively tell how absurd this was.

What on earth do the village farmers know about producing steel?

In particular, Tian Yun had some idea of ​​the devastating aftermath, but he was already 50 meters away from the right wing.

If I asked again here, I could be branded as a right-winger, 10m or 20m away, so I couldn’t even open my mouth.

The one who took up the gun was Peng Dehuai.

“Excuse me, Comrade Joo.”

“What now?”

“I don’t understand how you can get farmers to produce steel… … .”

“Huh! You’re a soldier, so what do you know?”

“yes?”

“Hey, do I have to explain this too? Listen carefully.”

“Yes, I will listen.”

“Britain now produces 20 million tons of steel a year. And it will continue to grow. 30 million tons? 40 million tons? And we? We only produce 5.2 million tons. So when will we catch up with Britain?”

“Well, that’s true, but… … .”

“So, all farmers should produce steel themselves. If we do this, we can reach 40 million tons in no time!”

“But what about the farmer?”

“Oh! You saw that too, right? Don’t you remember when we were fighting the Japanese, we installed a toro and produced weapons like grenade launchers?”

“… … .”

“I’m saying this because I’ve done it myself. Besides, even though they are a small number, aren’t some villages that have installed earthworks and are producing steel well during the first five-year plan?”

“… … .”

The scariest thing in the world is a shaman.

This is how a shaman catches people.

This is the same for Mao Zedong. He is now trying to get all 400 million people to make steel, based on his memories of the clumsy efforts he made during the Red Army era.

Of course, Pung Dehuai also clearly remembered it.

At the time, there was such a shortage of weapons that they apparently produced simple grenade launchers and such.

However, these were made by professional blacksmiths, and even the materials used were melted down from broken weapons or railroad tracks laid by the Japanese military.

In short, it is a somewhat usable weapon because it was made by an expert using good materials.

This was also the case with the pottery furnaces being produced in the first five-year plan.

Because they were a minority, they could pay attention to them, and because they were all produced by blacksmiths who had worked with iron their entire lives, they were successful.

But you’re going to install this in every village, in every house?

And you’re ordering the farmers who were farming to produce it too?

It’s a bloody mess, but what can I do?

If I ask any more questions here, it’s obvious I’ll be labeled as a right-winger.

On the way out after the meeting.

Zhou Enlai asked the pale Tian Yun.

“What do you think?”

“Why are you asking when you already know?”

“Is it that serious?”

“Our People’s Republic of China will be in deep trouble, at least for a while.”

“… … .”

But Tian Yun was also wrong.

Even Tian Yun did not know how persistently this great leap forward was carried out.

And how devastating the ending was.

***

December 28, 1955.

The Blue House in Seoul.

“Really? Really?”

“Yes, it was officially announced in the People’s Republic of China this morning.”

“Wow! Are you really doing that?”

“Is that so?”

“Oh my god!”

Ko Seok-man, Kim Ho-jin, Kim Kyu-sik, and others gathered in Lee Kang-cheol’s office were speechless at the report from National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-hyun.

This is because the Chinese Communist Party government officially announced that it would end the First Five-Year Plan after four years and enter the Second Five-Year Plan, or the “Great Leap Forward.”

“Huh! Since history has changed so much, I thought it wouldn’t be in this history, but is that really the case?”

Everyone nodded at Lee Kang-cheol’s words.