I have been in Hunan for only one year, yet the situation this year is very different from last year.
Last year, there would not have been such a large conference.
Last year, the government was under the warlord Zhao Hengti; this year, it is a government that is more willing to cooperate with the people.
Last year, the peasant movement was still in its infancy; this year, there are already 1.1 million organized peasants.
This is the result of the hard work of all our comrades.
The topic I wish to address today is the question of the united front among workers, peasants, merchants, and students.
The National Revolution is a revolution of all classes united, but it has a central issue—the central issue of the National Revolution is the peasant question.
The resolution of the peasant question is essential to everything else.
In the National Revolution, workers need an ample supply of raw materials and a plentiful output of goods.
Only the peasants can meet these needs.
As for the merchant question in the National Revolution, there are two types: industrialists and traders.
The market for industrial products lies in the countryside, where the buyers are the peasants.
The raw materials for merchants’ goods are also brought in from the rural areas, and the outlets for their merchandise are likewise located in the villages.
If merchants want their goods to sell well, the peasant question must be resolved, so that peasants have surplus income to spend on consumer goods.
Among the students in the National Revolution, some are now engaged in peasant and worker movements.
They study either industry or commerce.
Why do they not enter these fields?
Because the peasant question remains unresolved.
That is why students in other countries tend to be counterrevolutionary, whereas Chinese students are particularly active in revolutionary activities.
Most Chinese students lead very difficult lives, and after graduation they often find themselves with no prospects for employment, which compels them to join the revolutionary struggle.
Students in China are indeed important, but they are not the only important force.
We might compare society to a three-story Western-style building: the upper floor is occupied by imperialists, warlords, local tyrants, and reactionary gentry; the lower floor by the working and peasant classes; and the middle floor by the students.
Some can move up to collaborate with the warlords and imperialists, others can go down to work with the workers and peasants, while still others are stuck in between, unable to rise or to descend.
In China, then, only a small minority of students are actively revolutionary, another small minority are counterrevolutionary, and the vast majority take no part in the revolution.
At present, it is not yet time to overthrow the landlords.
We should give them a measure of leeway.
In the National Revolution, what we need to do is to overthrow the imperialists, warlords, local tyrants, and reactionary gentry; reduce rents and interest rates; and raise the wages of tenant laborers.
All these fall under the rubric of the peasant question.
Once the peasant question is solved, the problems facing workers, merchants, students, and teachers will also be resolved.
By the time I had finished speaking, it was four o’clock, and the chairperson announced a five-minute recess.