In October 1961, Zhou Enlai was invited to Moscow to attend the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Before returning to China, he said with a sigh: "At present, we still have difficulties in our country. We encountered such a big famine last year. My hair has become much whiter in the past three years. I must rush back this time."
Khrushchev admired Zhou Enlai very much, and held his hand and patted it heavily, and then watched Zhou Enlai leave Moscow.
In 1959, the country's agricultural output was greatly reduced, and the situation was very serious. Chairman Mao also knew about this. He decided to let Zhou Enlai be responsible for the planning, production and construction issues in 1959.
From June 14 to 18, 1960, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an enlarged meeting of the Politburo in Shanghai. At the meeting, Chairman Mao asked Zhou Enlai to talk about the situation in agriculture. Zhou Enlai systematically talked about his views and clearly pointed out the serious consequences of high indicators and overestimation of production over the years. He said that if the agricultural indicators are raised, it will not only affect people's lives, but also have a significant impact on the raw materials of light industry and indirectly affect the lives of the people. Therefore, it is more important than heavy industry.
is deeply in love, and Zhou Enlai said excitedly: "Now everyone is reporting that we are not full, so we are uneasy. The Chairman also said yesterday that to turn to the initiative, we must ambush the of this year's Party Congress to lower the indicators. I suggest that we should not only consider the situation this year, but also consider 1962. Therefore, the supplementary plan for the next three years, whether it is agricultural indicators or industrial indicators, should be lowered, with the purpose of leaving room for us!"
everyone agreed with Zhou Enlai's opinions, and Chairman Mao also supported Zhou Enlai very much, and decided to adjust the planning indicators, strive to take the initiative, and overcome difficulties.
However, due to the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations, many key construction projects stagnated due to the withdrawal of Soviet experts, which completely disrupted the original arrangements of the national economic plan. The proportion of national economy was imbalanced, industrial and agricultural production declined sharply, and the country's food shortage was severe.
Due to false reports in some regions, the grain output reported in various places reached 100 billion jin in 1959, but it was different from the actual situation. By 1960, farmers in many regions also developed swelling due to insufficient nutrition, and even starved to death.
In 1960, the food shortage affected the food supply to the city. Tong Xiaopeng, then director of the Prime Minister's Office, later recalled: "During the three-year difficult period, the city people suffered from edema due to the lack of food and by-products. Telegrams for grain from various places flew in like snowflakes, filling Zhou Enlai's desk, making it difficult for him to cope with it."
In order to solve the people's food problem, Zhou Enlai took a series of correct countermeasures and measures to get our country out of the extreme dilemma.
Zhou Enlai personally directed the transfer of grain, and was called the "chief commander-in-chief of grain dispatch". He asked the leaders of the grain department to talk several times every week so that he could know what was going on.
Chen Guodong Later recalled: "The Prime Minister came to us to talk about the issue of food. He usually went to us at night. The location was often his office, sometimes at 90 o'clock in the evening, and sometimes at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, and it continued until three or four o'clock in the morning the next day, and sometimes it was earlier and it ended at two or three o'clock in the morning."
When Zhou Enlai listened to the report, he always took a pen to calculate the numbers himself, saving one by one, and did not dare to miss every item. He has to calculate how much inventory is in various places, how much sales are sold every day, how much can be dispatched, where to store grain is the fastest, etc. He has to ask these questions clearly.
Zhou Enlai also often talks with leading cadres in various provinces, asking them to take the overall situation into consideration and support the unified allocation of food in the country. Zhou Enlai will always give the greatest help to provinces that are indeed in trouble.
Sichuan was once a major grain-producing province. Before that, grain was transferred out of the province to supply other places. However, in 1958, the major steelmaking delayed the harvesting of grain, causing the province to be short of grain. Zhou Enlai urgently allocated grain to support Sichuan and helped them overcome the difficulties.
If you want to coordinate the national grain and reasonably allocate grain in various places, you must be aware of the true situation of the grain in each province. Therefore, Zhou Enlai designed a "Central Grain Allocation Plan" to record the grain purchase, inventory, sales and allocation figures in each province on schedule. Because this table is very long, everyone vividly calls it the "Hadha Table".
Zhou Enlai grasped the trends at any time by checking in this table. When he visited various provinces, he even knew the food situation in this province more in detail than the provincial leaders. Everyone felt a little ashamed in front of him.
Zhou Enlai also often organizes symposiums for cadres at all levels to verify the true situation of grain production. He supports the Ministry of Grain’s proposed method of implementing the sizing and warehousing of grain from the national agricultural production team. The estimation of the production is close to reality, and plays an important role in the rational arrangement of the adjustment policy for grain purchase and sales.
Zhou Enlai showed a spirit of high responsibility to the country and the people and a meticulous work style in presiding over the grain allocation work. Some people in charge who worked in the grain department that year recalled: "Prime Minister Zhou is good at informing and remembering many specific situations and information figures. He asked us to tell the truth and do practical things. Once, the Prime Minister asked Li Xiannian, Chen Guodong and Yang Shaoqiao to discuss the grain allocation plan. He talked about it at around 11 o'clock in the night. He said, you should go back and rest first. This plan must be done tonight. You can just ask the Director of the Planning Department to come later. After that, the Prime Minister was busy with other government affairs. When Zhou Boping, the Director of the Planning Department, delivered the material to the Prime Minister's office in the early morning of the next day, the Prime Minister was still working at his desk. He carefully checked the material and even discussed each note with Zhou Boping before signing and agreeing to issue it. "
Another staff member recalled: "When the Central Working Conference was held in Guangzhou in 1961, the Prime Minister and us studied the grain allocation arrangements in some provinces and arranged the table. After adding the numbers, they found that the difference of 50 million jin could not be balanced. The reason could not be found for a while. The Prime Minister wore reading glasses , checked the table one by one, and calculated it one by one. After a while, the Prime Minister asked us: 'When the research was transferred out, 500 were added to Zhejiang Province. 00,000 jin, have you added it? ’ Only then did everyone understand the problem. It turned out that they missed the record. After adding this, they decided to balance the income and expenditure, and then they breathed a sigh of relief. ”
At the end of 1960, as the situation became increasingly serious, domestic grain alone could no longer solve the problem, and they could only import grain. During that time, Zhou Enlai asked the head of the Foreign Trade Department to report on grain ordering, transportation arrival, ship navigation, etc. almost every night.
Chen Guodong
In order to arrange the food issues of the people across the country, Zhou Enlai worked hard day and night. From June 1960 to September 1962, Zhou Enlai had a total of 115 conversations on grain issues. Among the 32 reports returned from the Prime Minister's Office to the General Office of the Ministry of Grain, Zhou Enlai had as many as 994 handwritings. It can be said that each report recorded Zhou Enlai's hard work.
Zhou Enlai was very concerned about the living conditions of workers and intellectuals. He would rather eat less than leave food to intellectuals and workers. When the food shortage eased slightly, he immediately proposed that starting from coal mine workers, special food subsidies should be given to heavy physical workers such as high altitude, high temperature, underground, and underwater.
In the subsequent conference, he proposed to subsidize a small amount of meat, eggs and soybeans to senior intellectuals and cadres at the 17th level to ensure their necessary nutrition and living needs.
Zhou Enlai took care of workers and intellectuals so much, but he was no exception to himself. He set an example and overcome difficulties with the people of the whole country.
Once, Chen Guodong, secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Food, went to the State Council for a meeting. The meeting was not over until the time of the meal. Zhou Enlai called the meeting to have dinner with everyone. On the table, Chen Guodong found that Premier Zhou’s staple food was steamed buns and steamed buns, accompanied by a little noodle soup, and the only dish was tofu made with cabbage.
Another time, Zhou Enlai discussed food issues with Li Xiannian, Chen Guodong, Yang Shaoqiao and others at his home. At noon, Sister Deng invited everyone to have a meal because there were people at home. He made , four dishes and one soup , but the plate was not big.
Zhou Enlai set an example, and Chairman Mao was the same. In 1960, he refused to eat a bite of meat for seven consecutive months. In the time when he was in trouble, Chairman Mao even refused to eat a grain of food for more than 20 days. He often used horse-toothed dish as a meal, or just a plate of stir-fried spinach to support his whole day. Because he had eaten too poorly and had severe nutrition, he suffered from swelling.
Zhou Enlai persuaded again and again: "Chairman, eat meat, eat a bite for the whole party and the people of the whole country!"
Chairman Mao shook his head firmly after hearing this: "You don't eat it, everyone doesn't eat it, it's just right!"
Song Ching Ling After learning about this, he specially rushed from Shanghai to Beijing and gave Chairman Mao a net bag of crabs, saying, "This is a crab, not meat."
out of respect for Soong Ching Ling, Chairman Mao accepted her wishes, but as soon as Soong Ching Ling left, Chairman Mao asked the staff to transfer the crabs to the guards, saying that the guards needed nutrition every day, completely ignoring that they had not eaten meat for more than half a year.
In the past few years, Chairman Mao has not added a new piece of clothing. After his death, the staff found that it was pitiful when they sorted out his relics. There was only cheap tooth powder , using a bald toothbrush, worn clothes and shoes and socks that had been sewn many times, and even towels were patched. What was most touching was that a pajama that had been sewn with 74 patches, and the original color could no longer be seen.
Chairman Mao said to the staff around him many times: "My standard is to not show meat or airtight. I save a piece of clothing, and I can have one more bullet when the war is ahead. Now the country is still poor and cannot be wasted. If there is no condition, it is not easy to pay attention to. This is easy to do. economic development. If there is no condition, it still restricts yourself from paying attention to it. This is difficult to do. Communists are to do things that are difficult to do!"
In early June 1962, Zhou Enlai went to the three northeastern provinces for investigation. He explained to the relevant staff that the people of the whole country are tightening their belts. Chairman Mao takes the lead in the Party Central Committee. I am not good at eating fish, eggs, meat and other things, and meat products are not good either. The masses have difficulties, and the leaders cannot treat them specially.
When Zhou Enlai arrived in Changchun, the staff explained Zhou Enlai's request to the local administrators clearly, but they did not listen. Deng Yingchao had to come forward in person, and asked the administrator to write down the delicacies of mountains and seas, and not eat meat, eggs, and fried food. Everything was handled according to the central regulations.
The chef who cooked the food said in disbelief after seeing these requests: "I have been a chef for so many years, and I have never seen anything like the Prime Minister who is not allowed to eat this or that is not allowed to cook."
In those difficult days, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou and other party and state leaders set an example, and our country survived those years with one will.
In 1961, Zhou Enlai went to the Northeast for a business trip and found that the Northeast, which was originally a grain-producing base, had difficulty in food and the people's life was difficult. He immediately negotiated with the Soviet Union and borrowed 200,000 tons of grain from Far East , solving the dilemma of grain in Northeast China. Later, the grain was returned to the Soviet Union from imported food.
In 1962, the report to Premier Zhou of Hebei Province reported that the proportion of dried sweet potatoes in their food rations was quite large. After investigation, Zhou Enlai ordered the transfer of dried sweet potatoes to Beijing and appropriately supply them. He himself took the lead in eating dried sweet potatoes at home, and asked cadres from all over the world to taste the taste of dried sweet potatoes.
On May 31, 1961, the Central Committee held a working meeting to discuss food issues specifically. Zhou Enlai made a report on food issues and compressing urban population at the meeting. According to the content of the meeting discussion, Zhou Enlai drafted the "Nine Measures on Food Issues".
It is precisely through this document that the country began to streamline workers and reduce urban population in the three-year adjustment period, adjust the serious dissonance between industry and agriculture and urban and rural areas, stabilize the grain supply in the country, especially in the hard-hit areas and large and medium-sized cities, and play a key role in the recovery and development of agricultural production.
During this period, Zhou Enlai attached great importance to the issue of party discipline. In October 1960, when the transportation of grain was the most stressful, Qinghai Province had generated electricity to the central government and asked to transfer grain, so he sent more than 50,000 kilograms of fish to the central government. Zhou Enlai was very angry when he learned about it and severely scolded the leading cadres below.
Then, he made severe criticism of the matter at the meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee. He said: "Qinghai gave the Central Committee 50,000 kilograms of fish, which is simply nonsense. Why did the Central Committee transfer grain and send fish? Please (Li Fuchun) draft a notice. From now on, the Central Committee is not allowed to send a fish with one needle and one thread in the whole country. It is strictly prohibited. This is a backdoor behavior. It is not possible to use a province to do something!" After the meeting, Zhou Enlai appointed personnel to draft the "Notice of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the No Convenience of Inviting Guests and Giving Gifts and Stop Building New Guesthouses."
1961, the Huai'an County Committee sent some specialties from their hometown to Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao. Zhou Enlai was a little unhappy about this and instructed his secretary to write a letter to the comrades of the Huai'an County Committee: "The lotus root powder, lotus seeds, purse , handicrafts and knitwear that your county gave to Zhou Enlai and Sister Deng has received. You know your love and care for Premier Zhou and Sister Deng. However, Premier Zhou, I believe that it is wrong for you to do this when the central government repeatedly urges the central government to not allow gifts. Now Premier Zhou and Sister Deng have taken out 100 yuan from their salary to send it to you as a payment for the price of lotus root powder, lotus seeds, croaker, and handicrafts. Some other knitted products will be brought to you later if there is a convenience. "After the
letter was sent out, Zhou Enlai was still a little worried and specially mailed the central government's notice on not allowing gifts to be invited to them, asking them to study it carefully and strictly implement it.
In October 1961, Zhou Enlai was invited to the Soviet Union to attend the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After the meeting, Zhou Enlai bid farewell to Khrushchev, who tried to keep Zhou Enlai and asked him to stay for a few more days.
Zhou Enlai said sincerely in the face of retention: "At present, we still have difficulties in our country. We encountered such a big famine last year. My hair has become much whiter in the past three years. I must rush back this time."
Khrushchev had no choice but to watch Zhou Enlai leave.
1961, during the process of grain transfer, the country had insufficient transportation capacity and encountered many difficulties. There were often untimely situations of grain transfer. After reporting this to Zhou Enlai, he immediately greeted the foreign trade department and quickly imported more than 1,200 cars and delivered them to the Ministry of Grain for use. Since then, the grain department established a car team, which greatly strengthened the central government's mobile grain transportation capacity and played a crucial role in grain supply.
Zhou Enlai attaches great importance to the reform of the grain work system, especially the annual reform of the grain. At that time, the grain year was from July 1st of each year to the end of June of the next year. At that time, the summer wheat harvest began to be stored in June, which spanned two years, which brought a lot of trouble to grain work.
After learning about the situation, Zhou Enlai said that this method is unreasonable and must be changed. It is necessary to make the grain produced in that year available to be used in that year. This is a matter of principle.
Zhou Enlai organized a meeting to conduct repeated research, and finally decided to be changed to the end of March in the next year from April 1st every year to the end of March in the next year. This system is still in use until now, and it can be said that it is a reward for the present and future generations.
After Zhou Enlai's unremitting efforts, the food problem was finally basically solved by the end of 1962. Zhou Enlai also breathed a sigh of relief. He said to a foreign guest with emotion: "I have not had a rest in the past three years. In 1959, I went to attend the 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. I was sick at that time and did not have a rest after I came back. It was difficult to take time, so I could only let me rest at home for half a day."
Although the food difficulties have passed, Zhou Enlai is far-sighted and dare not relax at all. In 1963, he proposed that rural areas should establish collective grain reserves. After meetings and discussions, the national grain reserves were included in the annual grain income and expenditure plan. Since then, the state and collective grain reserves have increased year by year, establishing a new line of defense for the national grain reserves.
In addition, Zhou Enlai was very concerned about the issue of population increase because it is closely related to the grain problem. In the 1950s, he attached great importance to the work of family planning , but the plan was later disturbed. By 1972 , the natural population growth rate is growing at a rate of 26/1000. Zhou Enlai instructed the establishment of the Family Planning Leading Group in 1973. By 1976, the natural population growth rate dropped to 12/1000, with significant results.
Now, the beloved Premier Zhou has been away from us for almost fifty years. Many food policies he set back then are still being implemented. Whenever I think about his once forgot to eat and sleep and working day and night for food issues, I can't help but burst into tears. The selfless dedication spirit of the older generation of revolutionaries, even if it is isolated from time and space, still echoes around me!
