On November 1, 1940, the Party Central Committee clearly pointed out in the "On Establishing and Consolidating the Central China Base Area" that the construction of the regime is a major event of "the first-class significance".

Liu Shaoqi went to Hai'an and the temporary political meeting for northern Jiangsu

On November 1, 1940, the Party Central Committee clearly pointed out in the "Administrative and Consolidation of the Central China Base Area" that the construction of the regime is a major event of "the first and most important significance". During the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in order to strengthen the Party’s leadership in the War of Resistance in Central China and establish the Central Plains Bureau, Liu Shaoqi was appointed as secretary. In October 1939, Liu Shaoqi arrived at Outangji in Dingyuan County, Anhui Province under the pseudonym Hu Fu. He conveyed the instructions of the Party Central Committee on strengthening the people's revolutionary forces, establishing anti-Japanese bases behind enemy lines and establishing democratic regimes. He explained the idea of ​​establishing bases and democratic regimes in a simple and easy way. He said: "Watching the Japanese requires not only guns, but also homes. This home is the base area and a democratic regime must be established."

Chen Yi also attaches great importance to the construction of the base area and democratic regime. When the battle in Guocun was over and was about to enter Huangqiao east, he was afraid that I would not understand the work of transferring the power from the army, so he repeatedly explained to me the importance of armed struggle, establishing a base and establishing a democratic regime. He said humorously: Beggars must hold a stick and lean against the wall when they hit a dog. This phenomenon in life seems very ordinary, but it contains philosophy. We have to fight against Japan and revolution, and we must be armed and have our own base and government as our own support. The army is the pillar of the base area, and the regime is the main symbol of the base area. This idea is of great significance to the anti-Japanese struggle in central China. From then on, any area with good implementation in this area will have great developments; otherwise, it will suffer setbacks and various losses.

After the anti-Japanese situation in northern Jiangsu was opened, we focused our work on the construction of the base area according to the instructions of the Party Central Committee. Under the decision of the Northern Suzhou Command, I actively convened the temporary political meeting in northern Jiangsu to prepare for the formal establishment of the Northern Suzhou Administrative Committee. At this time, comrades Liu Shaoqi, Huang Kecheng and others set out from Donggou, Funing, passed Yancheng and Dongtai, and came to Hai'an.

I remember it was the afternoon of November 7, 1940, with clear and clear autumn weather and sunny weather.

Some of the leaders and soldiers of the New Fourth Army, led by Chen Yi and Su Yu, gathered at the Chuanchang River Wharf in Hai'an, and were excitedly waiting for Liu Shaoqi's arrival. After the special wheel of Liu Shaoqi and others landed on the dock, we immediately went forward. When Liu Shaoqi and Huang Kecheng walked out of the cabin one after another, a burst of warm applause burst out from the crowd on the dock. Liu Shaoqi was wearing an old gray military uniform and had a thin face. He stepped onto the dock with a spirit and greeted us kindly. Chen Yi introduced several of the relevant officials present to him one by one. Huang Kecheng and other comrades who arrived in Hai'an with Liu Shaoqi also shook hands warmly with everyone and gave each other greetings. Afterwards, we sent comrades Liu Shaoqi, Huang Kecheng and other comrades to the residence arranged for them in advance to rest.

This was the time when the Japanese army was preparing to "mopping up" in northern Jiangsu and Chiang Kai-shek set off a new anti-communist climax across the country. Liu, Chen and others have fully estimated this situation. Japanese imperialism and Chiang Kai-shek would not be willing to allow the New Fourth Army to occupy the strategic location of northern Jiangsu for a long time, because it is rich in salt, cotton, grain and other strategic materials, and has sufficient military resources, which poses a great threat to the three railway trunk lines of Longhai, Jinpu, Beijing (Ning) and Shanghai, which are connected to the east, west, south and north. Therefore, the stubborn must collude with each other and pounce on us together.

After Liu Shaoqi came to Hai'an, he and Chen Yi and others studied with relevant main responsible persons of the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army how to deal with this serious situation that is about to come, as well as how to establish and consolidate important issues such as the principles and policies of the anti-Japanese base in northern Jiangsu.

Liu Shaoqi talked to me, mainly about the establishment of politics and the work of the united front. He believed that the long-term and arduous nature of the Anti-Japanese War determined the necessity and importance of base construction.

He said: "Our army insists on the fight against the enemy in central China, and must make long-term plans. We must seize the opportunity and vigorously carry out the construction of base areas. We must not lose the opportunity. We must establish a legal regime that can be recognized by the masses. The Kuomintang will not recognize our government. We use the Senate method to widely unite people of all classes and select our own regime institutions. This is the true legal government.At present, the temporary political participation meeting in northern Jiangsu must be held immediately and well. : Implement the three-three system in the structure of the regime. That is, the Communist Party accounts for one-third, the progressive elements account for one-third, and the middle and a few upper-class elements account for one-third. The Executive Committee and the Executive Committee Directors are elected by the Senate. This is the form of a united front government. "

Before the meeting of the temporary political meeting in northern Jiangsu, I went to Liu Shaoqi's residence to report to him about the preparations and asked for some questions. I walked into the room, and Liu Shaoqi's secretary asked me to sit down at the rectangular table in the middle of the hall. In an instant, Liu Shaoqi walked out of the inner room. I stood up and he greeted, "Please sit, please sit." "He walked to the north end of the rectangular table and sat down, and talked to me casually.

"You are very busy! The situation has just opened up, and you have to hurry up and work. There are very few old cadres now, and one person has to be the best for ten people!" I briefly reported the preparations for the Political Association. Liu Shaoqi continued to say slowly. Every sentence he thought about carefully, which made me learn a lot from it.

He took out a pack of front door cigarettes from his pocket, took out a lit and sucked it on fire, and asked me how many representatives were at this meeting?

I replied: "About 370 people, most of which were recommended by each county. "

" What opinions did they reflect before the meeting?"

" have three main questions: one is to express their support for the anti-Japanese war; the second is to hope that the rent reduction in the second five years will be reduced or not; the third is to have opinions on our appointment of county magistrates and district mayors and demand democratic elections. "

Liu said: "The task of this meeting is to elect the head of the government; promulgate a policy program, and the program should stipulate that a government that is honest and dedicated; Communist Party members should be punished with crimes of crimes. This is the only way to ensure the leadership of the Party. Some reasonable opinions among the representatives must also be absorbed into the policy outline. At the meeting, you will give a report on the policy outline and explain the current situation of the War of Resistance Against Japan so that everyone can understand it. We must talk about administrative work, financial work, education work, and armed work, especially the rent reduction of 25-5. We need to talk about the significance of reducing rent in the second five years. This is an important decision for us to mobilize and rely on the masses. There are many middle and upper-class gentry representatives of this political association. It is natural for them to have different opinions on the 25-5 rent reduction for their own interests. We must patiently do the explanation and persuasion work. ”

He paused for a moment, smoked a cigarette, and said thoughtfully: “You must talk to the gentry individually and make it clear to them. In the past, farmers were unable to support their families through hard work all year round. They thought the land rent was too heavy and asked for exemption, which was reasonable. The rent reduction in the second five-year period will temporarily have some impact on the income of some landlords, which is also a fact. However, after implementing rent reduction, it can not only increase farmers' enthusiasm for production, but also increase farmers' enthusiasm for participating in the War of Resistance. After the improvement of workers and peasants' lives, bandits will inevitably decrease and social order will be stable, which will benefit landlord capitalists and the people of the whole country.

I hope that all visionary and patriotic gentry must understand the righteousness and not only care about the personal interests in front of you but ignore the fundamental interests of the entire country and nation. Of course, the anti-Japanese democratic government adheres to the national united front and will take fair and reasonable methods according to the specific facts. If there are excessive demands and actions, it will lead and persuade them correctly so that the gentry can also live a better life. Please rest assured. "

I nodded.

" Several issues should be fully discussed, and then a resolution should be made and officially announced. "He intermittently said, "Do you have any presidium leadership meeting?"

" How many people are there?"

" more than 20 people. "

" is a little less, and it takes more than 30 people, accounting for one-tenth of the number of people in the meeting. It is necessary to take care of all aspects. ”

He also asked me to talk about the situation of the gentry with great influence in northern Jiangsu.

I told him: The gentry with the greatest influence in northern Jiangsu was Han Jun. At the beginning, his thoughts were to the right in the middle and he had no clear understanding of our New Fourth Army. Later, we did a lot of work, and he had a deeper understanding of us and sympathized with and supported us.The second is Zhu Luxian, who is very upright, has a sense of justice, and has national integrity. He even has faith in our party and the army. He speaks for us everywhere and helps us. The flag is very clear and he is a gentry who has faith in our New Fourth Army.

I also talked about the specific situation of the gentry in northern Jiangsu. Liu Shaoqi listened very seriously, sometimes interjecting a sentence or two. When I talked about some gentry not sincerely supporting us, he said: "The meeting must promote democracy, and we cannot be responsible for it. All parties attending the meeting must speak and listen humbly to their opinions. Regardless of whether the opinions are right or wrong, you must listen carefully and let others speak freely and not suppress them. Accept what is right, and explain what is wrong patiently."

I asked for instructions: "They asked the county magistrate to be elected democratically. Is this okay?"

Liu Shaoqi said without hesitation: "No, this requirement cannot be agreed at present, and the conditions are immature, We cannot be too hasty. They demand that the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker can agree, and that the opinions of the county magistrate and the district mayor cannot be agreed yet. Now that the rent reduction of the second and fifth years has not been completed, the masses have not been fully mobilized, and the party organizations and democratic regimes have not been widely established. If the county magistrate and district mayor are elected, we will be elected to the hands of the landlord class, and our regime will be lost. Under the current circumstances, we have appointed county magistrates and district mayors to be more democratic than their elections, because the county magistrates and district mayors we have appointed truly represent the people. "

Liu Shaoqi's opinion is completely correct. Since the decisive battle in Huangqiao, all the Kuomintang county magistrates have run away. Although most of the district magistrates have not run away, they have also been hiding. At the grassroots level, most of the township chiefs and security chiefs did not run away or hide, and they still exercised their powers as tools of the landlord class and the Kuomintang. After our army opened up the situation in northern Jiangsu, we immediately appointed some county magistrates to take over the power above the county. However, due to the lack of cadres, the grassroots regime was unable to replace the group of township and security chiefs left by the Kuomintang, so old people had to be retained. Liu Shaoqi once used a vivid metaphor for this expedient measure, calling it the "Liberation Card" regime. This means that this regime was liberated and has not been completely transformed. From now on, when rent reduction is implemented in the second and fifth day of the country, a large number of mass leaders will emerge. If we train these large number of mass leaders into district and township cadres, the situation will improve.

Liu Shaoqi asked me again: "Have you planned the candidate for the Speaker?"

I replied: "The general plan has been prepared. This was decided after repeated consultations with representatives from all parties. Han Jun was prepared to serve as the honorary speaker of the Northern Jiangsu Senate, Huang Yifeng was the speaker, and Zhu Kejing and Zhu Luxian were the deputy speakers."

He nodded and said, "Yes." He asked me again, "What kind of regime do you plan to establish?"

I said: "Create an anti-Japanese democratic regime."

Liu Shaoqi did not immediately express his attitude. I realized that my answer might be too hollow. He was silent for a while before saying that principles are important, but without specific measures, principles will fail. The purpose of our anti-Japanese war is to drive the Japanese invaders out of our territory; on the other hand, we must strive to develop and strengthen our own strength and establish our own regime. Now the Kuomintang government does not send us a gun, a bullet, a penny, or a grain of food. Instead, it is calculating how to eliminate us every day. Their attack on Huangqiao was exposed nakedly for this purpose. Once we establish our own regime, we can develop production, manufacture weapons, issue banknotes, collect taxes by ourselves, and not rely on anyone.

Speaking of the issue of the united front, he said that under the current conditions of the revolution, the united front is to resist Japan and save the country. If it does not resist Japan and save the country, there will be no united front. If the united front is unified by others, it will be a big mistake. I could hear that he was referring to it.

Liu Shaoqi also mentioned that the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party has not yet broken down, and it is estimated that it will not break down in a short period of time, because the Kuomintang cannot carry out the war of resistance alone, and if he wants to publicly surrender to Japan, the people of the whole country will not allow it, and Britain and the United States will not agree. So they still have to carry the banner of anti-Japanese war and on the surface they have to cooperate with us.Of course, they will collude with enemies at heart and try their best to attack us, but the surrender factions are only a minority in the Kuomintang. So now we only mention opposing surrender and regression, not "opposing the Kuomintang". We must strive for most of them who support the War of Resistance. In northern Jiangsu, we must strive for the Kuomintang members who support the War of Resistance, intellectuals with a sense of justice and patriotic gentry from the middle and upper classes, such as Han Jun and Zhu Luxian, to make them fully play their role in the Senate.

At this time, Chen Yi walked in, Liu Shaoqi turned his face and said to him: "We are talking about the work of the Northern Jiangsu Senate. You are familiar with the situation here, tell him more."

Chen Yi sat down opposite me. I looked at Chen Yi and waited for his instructions. He said: "You do it according to Comrade Shaoqi's instructions, and I have nothing to say. You can do it, promote democracy, and unite these great intellectuals."

Liu Shaoqi's conversation explained some major issues in the construction of the regime clearly, which is of great guiding significance to my future work.

On November 15, the temporary political participation meeting in northern Jiangsu was held in Hai'an. Fourteen counties including Jiangdu, Gaoyou, Taixian, Yangzhong, Danyang, Taixing, Jingjiang, Rugao, Nantong, Haimen, Chongming, Dongtai, Yancheng, and Xinghua all sent representatives to participate. Although Danyang is located in the south of the Yangtze River and Yangzhong and Chongming are located in the river, it is still our leader in organizational relations, so formal representatives are also sent to attend the meeting. In fact, there were 388 representatives, including various parties (mainly the Kuomintang and the Communist Party) and people from all walks of life. Many of them are local figures, including 72 Communist Party members, accounting for one-fifth of them weak; northern Jiangsu was underdeveloped, with only five workers' representatives; and more than 20 representatives attended the auditors. I remember that there were also many Kuomintang members attending this meeting. In addition to the senior Kuomintang senior Zhu Luxian and others, there were also Zhu Weigan and Sheng Rendong. Zhu and Sheng have been very politically progressive since then and have joined the Communist Party one after another.

At the beginning of the meeting, I explained the purpose, tasks and methods of this meeting in accordance with the instructions of Liu Shaoqi and Chen Yi.

Before the meeting, I visited Han Jun and invited him to attend the meeting and speak at the meeting. I remember he arrived at the venue and sat next to me. He sat for a moment, and because he was old, he surrendered. Huang Yifeng, Zhu Kejing, Zhu Luxian and Ji Fang attended the meeting from beginning to end. When the

speech was held at the conference, a fierce debate broke out. The focus of the debate is on two issues: one is the issue of rent reduction in two or five. Some representatives of the landlord class publicly expressed their disapproval of rent reduction at the meeting, on the grounds that: wars have been frequent in recent years, wars have continued to occur, the Kuomintang has banned a lot of miscellaneous taxes, and all the rent paid by the farmers has been plundered. They live a hard life, not even as good as farmers. If you reduce your rent, you will not be able to survive.

Some intellectuals represented by Zhu Luxian speak out for justice and firmly oppose this statement. They listed many examples, showing that most of the land in northern Jiangsu is concentrated in the hands of landlords, and there are many landlords with hundreds of acres or thousands of acres; the large landlords have super economic exploited farmers, generally taking "three to seven cents" or "four to six cents". Some have "flower profits", "dense profits", "extra small rents". Farmers worked hard for a year, but most of the harvested food was sent to the landlord's warehouse; while the landlords have a decay of life, many of them have three wives and four concubines and a group of slaves in their families... Only by not reducing rent and interest rates can farmers truly not survive. Some more enlightened landlords also proposed that the 25-5 rent reduction is to take care of the interests of both the tenant farmers and the landlords, and it is appropriate, but I hope to ensure the payment of rent and interest. If the rent is reduced and the landlord cannot get the rent, life will be difficult.

The second is the question of the method of the county and district mayors. Some representatives advocated holding elections immediately; the other representatives agreed to delegate and then implement democratic elections after the conditions were ripe. The debate is also quite fierce. I saw that the debate at the meeting did not exceed our previous estimates, and I asked comrades such as Liu Shaoqi and Chen Yi before the meeting, and I had a clear idea. Therefore, Yue Jesus was confident. After the representatives finished speaking, they explained one by one based on the spirit of Liu Shaoqi's instructions and combined with the different opinions of the representatives.Key issues and principles must be adhered to and never make concessions easily, but ideological work should be done as meticulously and in-depth as possible. I emphasized that everything should start from the overall situation of uniting the War of Resistance. Reducing rent and interest rates is the land policy of the Communist Party of China at this stage. From the perspective of the Kuomintang, the Three Principles of the People advocated by Mr. Sun Yat-sen also includes people's livelihood and equal land rights.

Our new anti-Japanese democratic regime must write this content into its own policy program, and implement it as an unswerving policy and implement it seriously, and no one can disobey it. Under the current circumstances, it is better to be appointed by the administrative committee elected by everyone. We take the fundamental interests of the country and the people as the starting point. Cadres who have been carefully examined and selected are actually more representative of the will and interests of the people than those who have been rushingly elected when the conditions are immature. Once such a clear statement was made, the debate was settled.

Before the meeting ended, I went to find comrades Liu Shaoqi, Chen Yi and other comrades, and invited them to meet with the representatives and speak. They readily agreed. Many of the representatives have met Chen Yi and have long been fascinated by his character and talent. I have admired Liu Shaoqi for a long time and I really hope to see him.

When Liu Shaoqi, Chen Yi and others entered the venue together, the atmosphere in the entire venue suddenly became lively. Liu Shaoqi made a report at the meeting. He focused on giving an outline and a clear explanation of our policy program. He pointed out: "Our democratic regime is on the national united front of the anti-Japanese war; it takes opposing Japanese imperialism, ensuring the interests of the anti-Japanese people of all classes, and suppressing traitors and reactionaries as its main task; it adopts the democratic form of the "three-three system", and is willing to all anti-Japanese parties, groups and people to participate in the anti-Japanese democratic regime and jointly manage the government. I hope that everyone will unite under the banner of the War of Resistance, organize an honest and dedicated government, and contribute to the efforts of the anti-Japanese struggle in northern Jiangsu."

chen Yi's speech first introduced the good situation of the development and growth of our New Fourth Army after the victory of the Huangqiao decisive battle. Then, he said: "The Battle of Huangqiao was originally avoidable, and this incident was caused by the insistence on anti-communism in the province and South Korea. Even so, we still hope that he can change his attitude and work with us to persist in the war of resistance in northern Jiangsu. Finally, it was pointed out that the New Fourth Army is the people's anti-Japanese force, a revolutionary force, and a new-style force. We strictly implement the three major disciplines and eight points of attention. The people's troops must rely on the support of the people. I hope that all walks of life will unite and fight against the war of resistance and fight the Japanese invaders out of China!" The

meeting passed the policy program; passed the resolution to establish the temporary administrative committee of northern Jiangsu; passed the resolution to establish the political association of each county; passed the resolution to improve the treatment of primary school teachers. The conference elected Han Jun as honorary speaker of the Northern Jiangsu Senate, Huang Yifeng as the speaker, and Zhu Kejing and Zhu Luxian as the deputy speakers. I was elected as the director of the Subei Provisional Administrative Committee, and Ji Qiang became the deputy director. Finally, I gave my closing speech.

This temporary political participation meeting in northern Jiangsu was held under the leadership of Liu Shaoqi, Chen Yi and others, and the meeting successfully completed the established tasks. The delegates said: Such democratic politics is in sharp contrast with the Kuomintang's corrupt politics, which is exactly the political situation we have been looking forward to for a long time.